It's Love, You Fool
by TheDevilLord20
Summary: Life was hard enough as it was to have a father who was never there. As a girl with trust issues, Haruka couldn't help but start to get interested in a certain red head. Along with Haruka, her friends were starting their own love stories. GoM x OC
1. The Very Beginning

A/N: You might notice that all my OCs are the same as in my other fics. I'm a lazy person and I won't be able to remember the characters if I made more. I can barely remember this set so please bear with the fact that they are the same OCs.

_Reviews would be appreciated~_

* * *

**It's Love, You Fool**

**GoM x OC**

**The Very Beginning**

**~.~**

Teiko Junior High was the school chosen by her father. Matsuoka Hayato, a nationally celebrated basketball player, graduated from Teiko many years ago after leading the school to many victories.

Haruka wasn't looking to follow after her father's footsteps. She had no intentions of leading the girls' basketball club to victory. In fact, Haruka was the least bit interested in basketball.

"I hate basketball players."

Haruka stared at her reflection in the mirror, smoothing out her uniform. It was the first day of school but Haruka was not looking forward to it at all. She grabbed her bag and headed downstairs.

Her mother made her breakfast but like always, her father was nowhere to be seen. Used to her daughter's silence, Haruka's mother said a soft 'good morning' before leaving her daughter to have breakfast silently. Haruka nibbled on the toast and only had a few bites of breakfast before getting up to leave for school. "Are you not going with Daiki-kun?"

"I'm taking the bus."

"Remember what you promised me?"

Haruka left out a sigh, stopping short but kept her back facing her mother. "To join a club and to be friends with someone else other than Ao and Satsuki," Haruka recited. Before school started, her mother had been drilling that into her head. There was no way Haruka could forget. And the deal was if Haruka joined a club and made new friends, she wouldn't be forced to join family dinners.

Her mother smiled, satisfied that her daughter had memorised it. Haruka left the house and headed for the bus stop, putting her earphones in, blaring her music to shut the world out. She got onto the bus and sat by the window, staring out. The journey on the bus didn't take too long and Haruka got off, walking toward school.

On her way, Haruka saw a black, expensive-looking car parked by the pavement. A boy with red hair, wearing Teiko's uniform, climbed out of the car while the driver got out as well. They exchanged a few words but Haruka's music successfully blocked out their voices. As she walked past, she made eye contact with the boy but walked on, pretending not to see anything.

As she stepped into the school, Haruka was suddenly pulled into someone with an arm around her shoulders. She frowned and pulled her earphones out, finally joining the world once again. "Where were you this morning?!" Aomine grinned. He had Momoi in his other arm as he walked with the two girls. "Have you decided on a club yet?"

"You can join the basketball club with me, Haru-Haru," Momoi smiled. "We can be the managers!"

"I hate bas-"

"You hate basketball players," Aomine sighed, letting go of Momoi as he went for a headlock on Haruka. "Do you hate me too then, princess? Huh? Am I your best friend or am I your best friend?"

Haruka frowned, struggling to get out of the headlock. When struggling failed, Haruka suddenly bent backward, doing a back handspring. Aomine let go of her just in time and Haruka smoothed her hair out as she stood up. Aomine blinked, staring at his friend while Momoi stared with her mouth wide open. "You there!" The trio looked at the same time, seeing a chirpy girl approaching them. "Hi! I saw what you did just now. Are you a dancer?"

"You saw how she nearly murdered me and you asked if she's a dancer?" Aomine asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I used to be," Haruka stated, adjusting her bag on her shoulder.

"Would you like to join our club?"

Aomine and Momoi leaned in, looking at the flyer held in front of them. Aomine burst out laughing and even Momoi couldn't help but giggle a little. "Teiko Angels?!" he laughed, holding his stomach. "S-sorry...I'm not laughing at you but...oh my god...Haru-hime in Teiko Angels?" he sniggered, wiping tears from laughing too much. "She's not angelic at all."

Haruka took the flyer and read over it. Although the name of the club was ridiculous and unfitting for Haruka, it was still a club nonetheless. Haruka had to fulfil her promise to her mother in order for her to skip family dinners and dance used to be her life. Seeing that Haruka was a little interested, the chirpy girl handed the clipboard with a registration form to Haruka with a smile still on her face.

Haruka took the clipboard and started filling it out. Aomine blinked as if he was witnessing a miracle. While Haruka was filling the form out, Aomine pressed the back of his hand on her forehead. "Are you sick, princess?" he asked, looking at her. "Who are you and what have you done with my princess?"

Haruka ignored Aomine and finished filling the form before handing it back. "Thank you!" the chirpy girl grinned. "Club starts next week and we will meet you in the gymnasium right next to the basketball club. I am Yagami Natsuki, second year. It's so nice to meet you, Matsuoka-san."

"See you next week," Haruka mumbled and walked on.

The trio went into the building together after Aomine and Momoi both signed up for the basketball club. Haruka headed down a different corridor and Aomine pulled her back by her collar. "Where are you going? Are we not in the same class?" he asked. He stole Haruka's timetable right out of her hand and looked at the top where her class was written. "Class 1-1?!"

"Uwah, Haru-Haru is smart!" Momoi grinned. "I'm in 1-3."

"Wait. You mean we're not in the same class?" Aomine frowned, looking at his best friends. "What?! I'm in 1-8!"

"Dai-chan sure is stupid," Momoi muttered.

Haruka took her timetable back and headed down the corridor, going to her classroom and left Momoi to explain to Aomine how they were distributed into their class. As Haruka walked in, some people looked at her before returning to their conversations.

Haruka was rather used to being ignored by people and she was never a social butterfly to begin with. She naturally headed for the seats at the back but they were already taken so Haruka had no choice but to take the one last seat right at the front by the window. She sat down and put her bag underneath her desk, staring out of the window.

Haruka could feel someone taking the seat next to hers. Curiosity got the better of her and Haruka turned her head a little to see who it was. The boy with red hair and the expensive looking car from before was now sitting next to her. The boy looked at her as well, recognising Haruka but neither of them said anything.

~.~

* * *

~.~

Aomine had left Haruka to walk to the gymnasium by herself as they arrived at the basketball club first. Haruka caught sight of the red head from her class in the basketball club but ignored it as she headed for Teiko Angels. The gymnasium wasn't too far away and Haruka pushed the door open, walking into the building.

It was an old building and was a rather small gymnasium, looking as if it was slowly falling apart. Two other girls were in the gymnasium already and they looked up when they heard Haruka walking in.

Haruka scanned the girls quickly, analysing her first impression of them. The pink-haired girl who wore her uniform a little scruffily looked like the type of person Haruka didn't like at all. Someone who was loud and a bit too friendly around others. She had a good figure and she knew it which in Haruka's mind meant that she was a little arrogant.

The girl with light brown hair seemed like the type of person that Haruka didn't mind one bit. She looked timid and quiet. The smile that she was wearing meant that she was nice but not overly friendly which was what Haruka liked in people.

She approached them and nodded but didn't sit down next to them. The pink-haired girl got up and placed an arm around Haruka's shoulder which made the blonde a little uneasy. "I'm Chinatsu! Hamasaki Chinatsu!" she grinned, squeezing Haruka little as she shook the girl. "This is Shinomiya Kaoru. You must be here for Teiko Angels, right? You look a little familiar."

"Matsuoka Haruka..."

"Matsuoka..." Kaoru whispered before gasping a little. "Could you be...Matsuoka Hayato-san's daughter?"

"Don't call me that," Haruka glared.

Chinatsu smirked and petted Haruka's shoulder. "I don't care whose daughter you are. But I do know who you are. You're the girl who won the National Cup for Elementary Gymnasts. Am I right?"

"That was two years ago."

"I know. You went into hiatus after that. Didn't think I would see you here," Chinatsu smiled.

Chinatsu sat down, pulling Haruka down with her as Natsuki skipped into the gymnasium. "Oh! People!" she grinned, skipping over to the group of three. "We're still missing one person...but I shall begin with my introduction first. Welcome to Teiko Angels! I am Yagami Natsuki, a second year," Natsuki smiled. "The only members we had last year were the third years so you're stuck with me this year. Before we begin though, I would like for us to choose a captain so we shall wait for the other girl."

"Captain? Aren't you captain?" Kaoru asked. Natsuki shook her head.

"I may be a year older than you guys but I know my skills. I'm not a good enough dancer nor do I have the leadership skills to be captain," Natsuki smiled.

She was the other type of person Haruka didn't like. Someone who was forever happy no matter what the situation. Haruka had never seen someone so happily telling others about her own flaws.

"Sorry I'm late."

They looked to the door where a tall girl with short strawberry blonde hair walked in. Haruka looked her over and frowned a little. This club was filled with people Haruka didn't particularly like. This new girl was one of those who knew they were good looking but instead of being outwardly arrogant, she was the type to act high and mighty, not talking to others she deemed unworthy of her time.

"No problem, I was just doing a little introduction," Natsuki smiled. "Like I said before, I am Yagami Natsuki, a second year and a member of Teiko Angels. Now, it's your turn to introduce yourself."

"Hamasaki Chinatsu, first year in class 1-8!"

"Shinomiya Kaoru, first year, class 1-2."

"Akiyama Kiyoko, first year, class 1-5."

"Matsuoka Haruka, first year, class 1-1."

The other three first years looked at Haruka when she said her class and Chinatsu smirked. "We have a smarty-pants here," she teased though Haruka was unaffected by it.

"Right!" Natsuki smiled, clapping her hands to get everyone's attention. "Introduction over, let's get down to business. First thing first, we need a captain," Natsuki said. "My criteria for a captain is simple, someone who is good at dance and good at leading. If you would like to nominate someone, please go ahead."

"I nominate Haruka," Chinatsu said, propping Haruka's arm up. "She's the proud winner of the National Cup for Elementary Gymnasts."

"I told you, that was two years ago," Haruka frowned, pulling her arm away. "And I'm not interested in being the captain," she stated. Noticing that Kiyoko was about to say something, Haruka quickly interjected before she could. "But Hamasaki-san should be the captain. She seems enthusiastic enough to do well in the position."

"Me?!" Chinatsu blinked. "Please don't call me Hamasaki-san, it sounds weird. Call me Chinatsu."

"I am absolutely fine with that choice," Natsuki smiled. "Right then, with our new captain, Chinatsu, we can now begin our club activities. Let me give you a little background story to Teiko Angels. The reason why we're called Teiko Angels is because we're a dance club that works towards the direction of idol groups," Natsuki grinned. "So our performance include doing covers of idol songs and coming up with our own choreography for an idol song. We don't have to sing but we do lip sync to make it look real."

At this point, Haruka was honestly regretting her decision to join this club.

~.~

When club activities ended, Haruka headed for the bus stop to get home. Already at the bus stop was the red head from Haruka's class. It was then did Haruka realise that even though he sat next to her in class, Haruka still didn't know his name. She stood a few feet away from him and plugged her earphones in, playing her music.

The red head looked up from his book and stared at Haruka. He let out a smile even though Haruka didn't see before looking back to his book. When the bus arrived, the two got on together but sat separately; on either side of the aisle right next to the window.

Haruka couldn't help but occasionally glanced over to the red head who was focused on his book. From the aura he emitted and the fact that he came to school before in an expensive-looking car with a chauffeur, Haruka was one hundred percent sure that he was from a rich family, a family of high status in society. Normally, Haruka didn't like those sort of people because they were almost always snobby but he was different.

Just the fact that he took the bus to and from school ever since the first day was evidence enough for Haruka that he was different.

Normally an outcast, Haruka for once wanted to get to know somebody and that somebody was sitting right across from her in the bus. The red head whose name she didn't know.


	2. Akashi Matsuoka

_Reviews would be appreciated~_

* * *

**It's Love, You Fool**

**GoM x OC**

**Akashi/Matsuoka**

**~.~**

The red head was sat across from Haruka.

That had become his usual seat and Haruka seemed to be the only one who noticed. Everyday when she got on the bus, he would be there already in the morning. Today was no exception.

Haruka slipped into the seat across the aisle from him and stared out of the window but was really staring at the red head's reflection on the window. He didn't look up from his book even once and Haruka looked away finally, concentrating on her music instead. The bus journey was short and Haruka got out before the red head.

They walked together with the red head following a few feet behind. As they came to a crossing, Haruka took a step forward without checking and was suddenly pulled back. The red head was holding her hand and Haruka watched as a car sped by. A car that could have hit Haruka if the red head wasn't there to save her.

"Be careful," the red head said. Haruka's earphones had fell out of her ears and this was the first time the red head had spoken to her. "You must always check before you cross the road. And..." he pointed to her ear phones. "Keep one out so you can still listen around you. It's safer that way," he smiled.

Haruka wasn't sure how to react to this. If this was Aomine, she would just pull away from him without saying anything. Not only that but Aomine wouldn't be lecturing her. It was the first time ever Haruka had experienced being lectured because someone cared. She wasn't sure whether or not she should thank him and by the time she decided to open her mouth, it was a bit too late.

The two walked side by side and stepped into school together. Haruka was suddenly whipped away by Aomine who placed an arm around her shoulder and pulled her into a hug. The red head watched them as he walked on and smiled a little. "Oh, it's Akashi," Aomine said, nodding to the red head who returned the nod. "What were you doing with him?"

"He takes the same bus," Haruka stated, breaking free from Aomine's hug. "And will you please stop doing this?" While Aomine apologised, Haruka stared after Akashi who had just disappeared into the building.

She finally knew his name.

~.~

Midorima had shifted his chair in front of Akashi's desk and the two were having a shogi match. They were odd ones who enjoyed playing shogi at lunch but they didn't care how others looked at them. While playing, they were also talking about basketball club when Midorima was stuck, trying to think of his next move.

At that moment, Haruka walked in, holding a melon bun in her hand. As she walked past Akashi's desk next to hers, she reached out and moved a piece for Midorima, putting Akashi in a pinch.

Midorima looked up and stared at Haruka while Akashi smiled a little. "Do you know her?" Midorima asked, looking at Haruka. Being anti-social had made Haruka a little invisible in class so it was no surprise that Midorima didn't know who she was. With her earphones plugged in again, Haruka was shut off from the world and Midorima was allowed to talk about her.

"She takes the same bus as I do," Akashi said, looking at the shogi board, frowning a little. Haruka's move took him by surprise and now he was a little stuck. "It seems like she is Aomine's friend."

"Isn't her name Matsuoka?" Midorima questioned. "There are rumours going around that she's Matsuoka Hayato-san's daughter."

Akashi looked over to the girl who constantly had her earphones plugged in, enjoying her melon bun. If she was the famous basketball player's daughter, Haruka did not look like it at all. Children were normally influenced by their parents and Haruka did not give off a basketball player's aura. If anything, she was far from being like Matsuoka Hayato.

"If she is, I have someone to share the spotlight with," Akashi said, finally deciding on his move. "And you lose, Midorima."

~.~

When school ended, it signalled the start of club activities. As they were heading the same way, Haruka walked behind Akashi who was accompanied by Midorima. As they made their way to their respective clubs, girls were staring after Akashi, giggling and squealing among themselves as he did. Haruka stared at them, not comprehending at all.

Haruka headed for the old gymnasium and as soon as she stepped in, she felt someone put an arm around her shoulders and pulled her into a hug. Chinatsu's breasts were pressing against Haruka's arms as the blonde was struggling, trying to get out of the uncomfortable hug. Chinatsu was the same type of person as Aomine and Haruka couldn't stand it at all.

One Aomine was more than enough to deal with. She didn't need another one.

"Rejecting your captain?" Chinatsu grinned, keeping her arm around Haruka's shoulders. "Natsuki-senpai picked our songs for us. We have a showcase coming up so we have to get practising soon. We have super cute songs and outfits too!" Chinatsu grinned.

"Hello~" Natsuki chirped, coming into the gymnasium with a CD player. She set it down on the floor and plugged it in, looking at the girls with a big smile. "Right, we shall begin with our very first song of the showcase. This showcase will be done in cooperation with the cheerleading team. This will allow us time to change into outfits for the next songs. So, our first song is...Fortune Cookie In Love!"

"What?"

Everyone looked at Haruka and blinked. "Not the pop song type now, are we?" Kiyoko smirked, flipping her phone close. "It's quite a popular song."

"Well, I've expected that not everyone would know all the songs we're doing to dance to," Natsuki smiled, pulling a laptop out of her bag. "Which is why I've brought this. We can watch the original music videos first before we begin."

Natsuki searched the song online and played the music video for Haruka. As Haruka watched the music video, her facial expression was progressively changing from stoic to disgust to horror. She had definitely dug her own grave when she decided to join the club. Chinatsu laughed when she saw Haruka's expression at the end and smirked. "I know what part Haruka definitely has to do now."

"And that is?"

"_Look at me too~_" Chinatsu sang.

Haruka instantly glared at Chinatsu as if she was crazy. "Are you trying to ruin the showcase?" Kiyoko asked. "You want her to take the centre spot?"

"Why not? She's the best dancer out of us," Chinatsu shrugged. "And er, captain, remember? I get to have a say in who gets what spot," she smirked. "And I say that our Haruka will take the centre spot."

"I think that's a bad choice." Haruka and Kiyoko said it together and looked at each other.

"I think it's a great choice!" Natsuki smiled. "Don't worry, we'll train Haruka-san until she's cute and fluffy. With this song, the dance is quite easy so apart from Haruka taking the centre spot, everyone else will be doing the same thing. We will have some of the cheerleaders joining us for this song and it's always great to ask the crowd to join in. This is more like a warm up song for us."

Ignoring both Haruka's and Kiyoko's protest, practice commenced. Everyone was quite shocked with Haruka's performance as she instantly turned into a different person as soon as she started dancing. Cuteness exploded everywhere and for a moment, she even convinced her member that it was a regular thing for Haruka to smile.

"I think that was awesome!" Chinatsu smiled, hugging Haruka. "See?! I knew making her the centre is the right choice," she grinned. "And I just thought of the greatest thing ever. Stage names! We can have cute and adorable stage names!"

"You're too into this, Chinatsu-san," Kaoru panted a little.

"I don't have any cute nicknames," Haruka stated. "And I don't want any."

"Haru-Haru!"

Momoi appeared just then, coming into the old gymnasium and shouted Haruka's nickname out loud. Chinatsu smirked and Haruka groaned. "No cute nicknames, huh?" Chinatsu smirked. "Well, Haruka will be known as Haru-Haru from now on. Natsuki-senpai can be Tsuki-chan and I will be Natsu-chan. Kaoru can be Kao-chan and Kiyoko-"

"Kiyomi," Kiyoko interrupted. "It means cute in Korean."

"Great! Well, I'll see you guys tomorrow then."

Haruka glared at Momoi who stared at her innocently. "Did I do something wrong?" she asked before giving Haruka a smile. "I'm so glad that you're finished! Dai-chan finished with practice too so I came to see if you would like to walk home with us."

"I'm taking the bus," Haruka said, picking up her bag and left the gymnasium with Momoi tailing behind her.

"But we live so close! Let's walk, Haru-Haru!"

"Stop calling me that."

"But why? Haru-Haru!"

Just then, Akashi exited the auditorium basketball club was held in with Aomine following behind. Haruka looked at Akashi and frowned, hating that Momoi had shouted her nickname out so loudly. She walked on, keeping her head down. "Princess!" Aomine shouted after her and Haruka fumbled, taking her earphones out and put them in, playing her music loudly.

Haruka kept her head down the entire time and crossed the road without watching. She was pulled back just as a car sped by and looked up to see Akashi. "How many times are we going to go through this?" he asked. "It's dangerous to cross the road without looking. And..." he said, pulling one of the earphones out. "Keep one of it out."

Haruka blushed a little and took a step back from him. She kept one of the earphones out and looked away from Akashi, pushing her hair behind her ear. They walked to the bus stop together and waited for the bus in silence.

Haruka got on the bus first and Akashi followed behind her. This time, however, Akashi sat next to Haruka instead of across the aisle like he always did. The first few minutes was sat in silence but it didn't last long. "Haru-Haru?"

"Please don't..." Haruka muttered softly.

"It's cute."

"Satsuki-san thought I wasn't cute enough so she gave me that nickname," Haruka said. "Only she calls me that so...please don't make it a habit."

"You're Matsuoka Haruka, right?"

Haruka had a feeling where this conversation was heading. As a basketball player himself, Akashi was probably interested in her father. Like always, Haruka would be linked back to her father. With that in mind, Haruka kept quiet and looked out of the window instead. Akashi noticed her silence and looked forward instead.

"If you think I'm going to ask about your father, you're wrong," Akashi said. "I just want to know the name of the person who put me in a pinch in shogi."

"And you're Akashi."

"Akashi Seijuro." Haruka nodded and looked down, playing with her fingers. "You're the first person who's not surprised," Akashi said, smiling a little. "Most people would gasp and ask if I will take over my father's company one day."

"That would be because I don't know the name Akashi," Haruka admitted.

Akashi laughed and smiled. "I prefer if you didn't know the name Akashi," he said. "It's quite bothersome sometimes. Many befriends me just because they want the status of being friends with an Akashi. I'm sure you understand."

Haruka nodded. She understood that all too well. Sometimes she was thankful for the fact that she met Aomine and Momoi when they were in kindergarten so they were still too young to know who her father was. Even after they knew who he was, their attitude toward Haruka never changed. Aomine was still the same brute who would force hugs on Haruka and Momoi was still Haruka's girly friend who constantly tried to convert Haruka into the same girly girl.

Haruka's stop came up and she pressed the bell, getting up to leave. "I'll see you tomorrow," Akashi said. Haruka looked back at him and nodded, getting off.

* * *

A/N: If you wanna know the song Teiko Angels are dancing to, search "AKB48, Fortune Cookies In Love" or just "Fortune Cookies".


	3. Aomine Hamasaki

_Reviews would be appreciated~_

* * *

**It's Love, You Fool**

**GoM x OC**

**Aomine/Hamasaki**

**~.~**

It had become a regular thing for Haruka to appear at school accompanied by Akashi at her side. It had also become a regular thing that as soon as she stepped into the school's property, she would be attacked by a hug around the neck by Aomine. Akashi would generally give her a smile before walking on to class by himself.

This morning however, Akashi gave her a frown as Haruka was suddenly whipped away. Instead of her head being against Aomine's chest, it was pressed against a rather big bust. "Oi!" Aomine and Momoi were in front of Haruka which meant that whoever it was couldn't be Aomine or Momoi. "Let go of my princess!" Aomine shouted.

"I don't want to~" Chinatsu said in a sing-song voice, hugging Haruka tighter. "How can I let go of the cutie pie?"

Aomine smirked. "Well, I trust that the princess can break free herself. Do that thing you always do to me!" Aomine shouted to Haruka. Haruka looked at her childhood friend and knew what he was referring to. She bent backward suddenly, going into a backhand spring, freeing herself from Chinatsu who escaped from any injury due to her quick reflexes.

"Woah...you're seriously no joke, Haruka," Chinatsu mumbled softly.

"That's my princess," Aomine grinned, going to latch onto Haruka but the girl ducked, avoiding him perfectly. "Oi! I didn't get to hug you today!"

"We're late," Haruka stated and headed for the building.

Aomine, however, didn't give up and went up to Haruka from behind, hugging her tightly as he grinned. As Chinatsu walked by, Aomine pulled under one eye and stuck his tongue out at the girl. "Can't believe I'm in the same class as her," Aomine muttered. Haruka pushed Aomine's arm off her shoulder and gave him a look.

"It's not hard to believe. You're both as stupid."

"Princess!"

~.~

* * *

~.~

Today marked another step Haruka had taken in her decision to join the Teiko Angels. Natsuki had just shown the club the line-up of songs they would be doing for the showcase and Haruka knew none of the songs. After seeing them on Natsuki's laptop, Haruka felt like she was scarred for life. She thought the first song was hard enough in terms of cuteness.

Not only that but Natsuki had brought the costumes that her and her mother had made for them especially. The girls had to try them on to see if they fitted and Haruka had honestly never worn so many dresses before in her entire life.

"Okay, the blue and white dress is for Fortune Cookie," Natsuki said. "It would be great if we can wear it and practice today so we know how well we can move in the costumes," Natsuki said. "We'll do Fortune Cookie once before we start learning the other songs today."

Chinatsu looked over to Haruka who was already in costume. She walked over and pinched Haruka's cheeks, tugging on them a little. "Smile, Haruka," she said. "You're a Teiko Angel now. Smile."

Haruka slapped Chinatsu's hand away and glared at her. Chinatsu laughed while Natsuki went over to the CD player. She plugged it in and put the CD in, pressing the play button. As soon as she did, all electricity went out in the old gymnasium and there were several screams coming from the girls. "Er..." Natsuki frowned.

Akashi was the one who opened the auditorium door when there was a knock on it. Natsuki grinned at Akashi who looked a little confused since the girls were all wearing their costumes. "Can I help you?"

"Hi," Natsuki smiled, stepping into the auditorium. "Um...you see, we're the Teiko Angels and the gymnasium that we normally practice in kinda gave up on us. The electricity went out and this is the closest place we can go to. I know that you have three auditoriums. Would it be okay for us to practice in a not so busy one?"

Nijimura walked over to the group of girls, holding a basketball to his hip. "What is this, Akashi?"

"Hi, we're the Teiko Angels," Natsuki smiled.

"I know who you are. What are you doing here?" Nijimura asked.

"You can practice in here for now," the coach, Sanada, said. "Practice is about to finish."

Natsuki grinned. "Oh thank you! If you would be so kind as to stay as well, we would be really grateful. You see, we have a showcase coming up with the cheerleading squad. We have a start song that we would like as many people as possible to join. It would be great if we could have some basketball players in the sequence."

"You can practice in here but you can't disturb my players," Sanada stated. "They can stay and watch if they want but no player of mine would be joining in."

Natsuki looked at the strict coach and nodded. She thanked them for letting them use their space and walked onto the court. The other girls followed behind her and Haruka was the last in line. Akashi noticed her and stared at her while Haruka kept her head down. "Princess?" Aomine frowned. Haruka looked up and cursed him silently. "Oh my god, it really is you. What the hell are you wearing?!"

"Don't you dare laugh."

"AHAHAHA! The princess is wearing a dress!" Aomine laughed.

Everyone looked at him as if he had gone insane. Akashi stood by the side and couldn't help but smile a little. He must admit that Haruka did look different to her normal stoic self. Momoi was trying to get Aomine to shut up, hitting his arm.

"She's adorable, isn't she?" Chinatsu grinned. "Oh my gosh, now that we have an audience, we can practice our introductions as well!"

"Chinatsu-san!" Haruka shouted, feeling embarrassed just thinking about the introductions.

Natsuki gasped excitedly and nodded in agreement. Reluctantly, Haruka got into her spot while Natsuki asked for a certain green-haired male for his help to press the play button when they were ready. "Tsuki-chan!"

"Natsu-chan!"

"Kao-chan!"

"Kiyomi!"

Everyone looked at Haruka who was in the centre spot, wondering if she would do the introduction as well. Haruka let out a deep sigh before looking up with a bright smile. "And Haru-Haru!"

"We are Teiko Angels!"

Aomine sniggered and Haruka shot him a glare. Momoi elbowed him in the rib to get him to stop as she admired Haruka, proud that the girl was finally being girly.

Midorima pressed the play button as instructed and the girls started doing their dance as soon as the song began. It was a little hard for Haruka to keep the cute expression and smile on her face as she kept seeing Aomine laughing from the corner of her eyes. He burst into laughter, holding his stomach and rolled on the floor when Haruka did her little solo part, "_Look at me too~_".

"AHAHAHA! Princess, you are adorable!" Aomine laughed, petting Haruka's back a little too hard.

Momoi squealed as soon as they finished and hugged Haruka, rubbing her cheeks against the other girl's. Haruka glared while the two doted on her, teasing her about the side they had never seen before.

Aomine was suddenly pushed away and Chinatsu came by Haruka's side, hugging Haruka tightly. "I'm so proud of you, Haruka!" Chinatsu grinned, suffocating Haruka. "You were super adorable! I can't believe you did so well in ignoring that idiot who doesn't know how fantastic you are!"

"Who are you calling an idiot?!" Aomine shouted.

"Whoever it is who asked that question," Chinatsu stated, sticking her tongue out.

~.~

* * *

~.~

"WHAT?!"

Aomine and Chinatsu glared at each other. Both were standing up and had shouted at the same time at their teacher. The two were just assigned to a project as partners and needless to say, they were both protesting. The teacher looked a little annoyed and gave them a look. "Sit down, Aomine, Hamasaki," he said. "And like I said, you will be partners in this project."

Knowing that arguing with the teacher would lead them nowhere but to trouble, the duo sat down and glared at each other.

After school, on the rare occasion that neither of them had club activities, they came to the library to work on their project together. Chinatsu looked at Aomine from across the table and glared, kicking his chair underneath. "Oi, go and get the books," she ordered, giving him a list of books to get.

"Why me?"

"You're the guy here. Do you want me to serve you?"

Aomine glared and took the list, getting up. He went around the library, looking for the books on the list. He was gone for quite a while since he wasn't quite familiar with the library but found all the books soon enough. He came back to the table and dropped the books on the table, scaring Chinatsu. Chinatsu glared and took a book, opening it.

Aomine yawned and leaned back in his chair, staring at the ceiling. "Ah...basketball is so much better than this..."

"Any other partner would be better than you," Chinatsu stated. "I rather do this alone."

"As if you can do this alone. You're just as stupid as I am," Aomine said.

"That is no way to treat a lady, Aomine."

The two looked up and saw Akashi with several books in his arms. Aomine frowned at him and raised an eyebrow. "I've found it," Haruka said, coming from behind Akashi, holding a book. "Ao?" she frowned. "You're in a library? With books?"

"I study too. Sometimes," Aomine said. "Once a year. Maybe."

"Are you two on a library date?" Chinatsu teased.

"We're working on a project together," the two class 1-1 students replied together.

In the end, Haruka and Akashi joined Aomine and Chinatsu at the table. The two from class 1-1 were working harmoniously, getting their project almost completed while Aomine and Chinatsu were bickering with each other rather than actually working on their project. Haruka watched them and shook her head. "It's like there's two Ao."

"Ao?"

"That's me. You got a problem with that?" Aomine frowned.

Chinatsu glared. "I have a problem with your existence. Are you going to get rid of it?"

"I have honestly never hated a girl with big tits except you," Aomine stated. "Guess you really fall into the big tits, no brain stereotype. You should be more like my princess. She has big tits but she's in class one."

"Ao."

Chinatsu grabbed Aomine's shirt, about to hit him when two books flew in Aomine's direction, hitting him on the head and in the face. "Why did you do that?!" Aomine shouted, glaring at Akashi and Haruka who both pretended not to know what happened. "Akashi, I didn't think you would join in on this! And you, princess! Why are you siding with her?!"

"Ssh, we're in the library," the red head and blonde said at the same time.

"Don't shush me, princess!" Aomine shouted.

The librarian appeared behind Aomine and folded her arms. Needless to say, Aomine and Chinatsu were kicked out of the library. "This is all your fault," Chinatsu stated, picking up her bag. "We haven't done a single thing for our project and now we're kicked out. Happy?"

"You're the one who started it."

"Still arguing?" Akashi asked, coming out from the library with Haruka following behind. "It takes two to tango. If was both your fault that you got kicked out."

"Are you guys kicked out too?" Chinatsu frowned.

"We've finished," Haruka said. "We're going home now."

Aomine went to put his arm around Haruka's shoulder but the girl stepped aside. Aomine placed his arm on Akashi instead, making the red head look at him. "Sorry," Aomine said and gave Haruka a look. "Come on, princess, I'll walk you home."

Akashi instantly looked at Haruka, wondering what her reply would be. It was understandable if Haruka decided to walk home with her childhood friend but Akashi quite liked that they took the bus together. "No thanks," Haruka said, looking at Akashi. "Let's go, Akashi-kun. The bus will be coming soon."

Aomine stared after Haruka, blinking. "She...she said no," he frowned a little. "She's getting really close to Akashi lately..."

"You're just jealous that she chose a better guy," Chinatsu rolled her eyes. "Honestly, that red head will be a much better boyfriend for Haruka than you," Chinatsu stated, stretching her arms and went the opposite way. She looked back at Aomine who was still rooted to the spot. She went up to him and took a peek at his face.

What Aomine was expressing wasn't jealousy and Chinatsu could tell. She stared as Haruka and Akashi disappeared out of sight before Aomine finally looked away and went the opposite way. No, what Chinatsu saw wasn't jealousy. It was concern. As to what Aomine was worried about, Chinatsu had no idea. She shrugged, deciding not to hurt her head by thinking too much.

"Oi, wait up, idiot!"


	4. Dangerously Close

_Reviews would be appreciated~_

* * *

**It's Love, You Fool**

**GoM x OC**

**Dangerously Close**

**~.~**

Haruka got on the bus and looked to her usual seat. Akashi was already sat in the seat next to the window so Haruka made her way over and sat next to him. Seeing Akashi every morning had become a routine for Haruka. It was one of the things that comforted her and made her feel that she would be able to get through the day.

Akashi noticed that as the days went by, Haruka had slowly stopped listening to her music even if she sat silently next to him. He smiled a little to himself when he didn't see any earphones plugged in as Haruka sat next to him. Although it was how their friendship started, Akashi didn't want to make a habit out of saving her from getting run over by cars.

"Your showcase is tonight, isn't it?" Akashi asked.

Haruka nodded in reply. She was honestly glad that the basketball club had practice that night because she already felt like killing herself after Aomine laughed at her for acting cute. She didn't want to think what Akashi's reaction would be if he saw the entire showcase. "You have practice tonight, don't you? I'm glad Ao won't be there."

"He's just not used to seeing a different you," Akashi stated.

"It's not even me," Haruka said.

Akashi didn't say anything to that and looked out of the window. The rest of the journey was completed in silence. They got off together and as soon as they stepped into the school's property, Haruka was whipped away as usual. Akashi smiled, giving Haruka a small wave as he walked on first. Haruka stared after him and nodded.

Aomine looked down at his childhood friend and frowned a little. He didn't like how Haruka was getting so close to Akashi. Although he knew that Akashi wasn't a bad person, he couldn't help but feel that if they continued on, something bad was going to happen and Haruka would get hurt. The last thing Aomine wanted was to see his friend hurt.

"Good morning, princess!" Aomine grinned, pushing his concern to the back of his mind. "Oh? Not listening to music? That's something new."

Haruka smacked Aomine's hand when he started playing with her hair and he pouted at her, rubbing his hand. "Why are you always so energetic in the morning?"

"Because it's a great way to start the day," Aomine smiled and pinched Haruka's cheeks. "You should really smile more. You look prettier when you're smiling. What's the point in having big tits if you don't smile."

"That has nothing to do with smiling," Haruka glared and stomped on his foot. "And stop talking about my body or I'll make sure you can never see another pair of tits ever again in your life."

Aomine gulped. "Gosh...why can't you just be Haru-Haru? I like you better when you're performing as the Teiko Angels. Speaking of which, your showcase is tonight, isn't it? Man...I wish I can go. I have practice tonight."

"Please don't come even if you can," Haruka said. "Chinatsu-san will murder you."

"Eh, Big Tits can shove it up her ass..." Aomine mumbled.

~.~

* * *

~.~

It had been a while since the last time Haruka felt nervous. Haruka could feel her heart speeding as they were all getting ready backstage. They were all in costume and were getting their make-up and hair done while the cheerleaders were warming up, practising some of their stunts. Haruka watched them, rubbing her hands together.

Chinatsu noticed Haruka's nerves and smiled. "Hey," she said, putting an arm around the girl. "You'll be fine, don't worry about anything."

"Actually, worry about something," Natsuki said. "Your solo part in Fortune Cookie where you go, '_Look at me too~_', you need to be cuter. And by cuter I mean real. It's a little obvious sometimes that you're only acting."

Haruka just got more nervous after hearing those words from Natsuki. Wouldn't her members normally say encouraging words instead of telling her off in situations like this? Haruka wasn't sure what to expect from members anymore since it had been a while since she was last in a team for anything. "Don't listen to her," Chinatsu said. "Although...your cuteness level really has gone down lately."

"How can I up the level of something that was non-existent in the first place?"

"Hm...Kiyoko?" Chinatsu asked, looking over to the strawberry blonde who was busy on her phone. "Oi! Listen to your captain when I'm talking to you. Do you have any advice for Haruka on how to up her cuteness level in...fifteen minutes?"

"Nope." Kiyoko pursed her lips and emphasised on the 'p' as she said it. "Like she said, you cannot up the level of something non-existent."

"It helps if you imagine you're doing it for someone you like," Kaoru said, coming into the dressing room after a bathroom break. "Do you have someone you like, Haruka-san? Even if it's a celebrity or just a guy of your imagination."

Haruka raised an eyebrow and Chinatsu looked at Haruka hopefully. "I don't really like any celebrities..." she said softly and Chinatsu's smile dropped a little. "And...I don't normally fantasise about my ideal type or anything like that..." Chinatsu's smile completely disappeared as she hugged Haruka, shaking her head while resting her forehead on Haruka's head. "Chinatsu-san."

"Just...try your best," Natsuki smiled. "There's nothing more we can do now since the showcase is about to start. At least...smile," she said, drawing curves in the air with her fingers to represent a smile. Haruka gave Natsuki a smile and the senpai sighed a little. "It's not what I want but it'll have to do. Okay then, captain, give us speech before we go on."

"Um...I'm not usually good at these but I'll try," Chinatsu said and cleared her throat. "Let's do our best tonight and give a good show. We'll make the people leave tonight with a smile on their face. We're Teiko Angels!"

"That was really shit," Kiyoko stated.

"Shut up! I know it was!" Chinatsu frowned.

With Chinatsu's somewhat encouraging words, the Teiko Angels moved out, going to the side of the stage. They were introduced and they walked onto the stage. Haruka was the last in line, taking her centre spot as she walked on. She couldn't really see the audience with the spotlight shining on them but as her eyes began to adjust, she could see the audience. Specifically, who was in the audience.

A few rows from the front, Teiko's basketball club had taken up the entire row with the group of rainbow coloured hair right in the middle. Haruka could feel her heart beating faster as nerves were starting to get to her when she saw Akashi in the audience. All she could think about was that they were supposed to have practice that night. Akashi wasn't supposed to be able to make it.

So deeply engrossed in her thoughts, Haruka nearly missed her introduction. "And Haru-Haru!"

"We're Teiko Angels!"

The song started and they started to dance. As they were dancing, Haruka would catch a few glance from Natsuki and Chinatsu and they were both subtly trying to get Haruka to smile. Eventually, she understood them and started smiling though it was stiff and unnatural.

As the extremely cute solo part was coming up, Haruka was getting more and more nervous. Then out of nowhere, Kaoru's advice suddenly appeared in her mind.

_Imagine you're doing it for someone you like_

Someone she liked. Was there anyone she liked. For some reason, Haruka's eyes slowly looked over to Akashi in the audience. He was watching her and when they made eye contact, Akashi smiled. Someone she liked.

Haruka kept her eyes on Akashi and Natsuki and Chinatsu looked at Haruka worriedly. The solo part was coming any time soon and this was the one and only chance to get it right.

"_Look at me too~_" Haruka smiled, doing her part perfectly.

Natsuki and Chinatsu both let out a sigh of relief secretly as they completed the dance. They ran off the stage, handing it over to the cheerleaders as they went to change into their next costume. Chinatsu hugged Haruka from behind and grinned. "You were perfect!" Chinatsu smiled. "How the hell did you do it? You're a genius!"

"You were looking at someone," Kaoru said, walking up to the duo. "Who were you looking at?"

"Oh? Someone you like?" Chinatsu asked. She then suddenly gasped loudly, covering her mouth. "I saw the basketball club. No way! Could it be one of them? No! I know who it is! It's red head, isn't it?! It's Mr Red Head!"

Haruka ignored Chinatsu and went to get change. Their next song was yet another cute song and the costume was no less cuter than the last. They wore a white button up shirt on the inside with a denim suspender skirt on top. They waited as the cheerleaders were doing their routine and when it was time, they stood in the left wing as the cheerleaders cleared off.

~.~

"Who knew you could be so adorable?!" Aomine grinned, latching himself onto Haruka as usual.

The showcase had ended and it was success. Haruka made sure to keep her eyes on Akashi only in the audience and she did every single dance perfectly, complete with the cutest expressions she could master. Even Aomine and Momoi were both surprised to see Haruka's performance.

"I was so worried that Haru-Haru would be the only one who isn't smiling," Momoi said. She, too, joined in the hug and Aomine and Momoi both rubbed their cheeks against Haruka's until the blonde finally pushed them away.

"Isn't that Haru-Haru?"

"She's prettier up close."

"Idiot, Teiko Angels are all pretty!"

"Haru-Haru's my favourite."

"I like Natsu-chan."

As people walked past them, Haruka could hear them talking about Teiko Angels. She was surprised at how many people liked their performances and deep down inside, she was truly happy even though she wasn't expressing it. But the only person whose opinion mattered walked by then. Haruka stared at him and Akashi smiled.

"You were great," he said.

"Thank you..."

"Are you taking the bus?" Akashi asked.

Aomine kept his arm around Haruka's shoulder protectively and looked at Akashi. "It's late. I'm not going to let the princess walk home alone," he said. "I'll see you tomorrow at practice, Akashi," he nodded, pulling Haruka away before she could say anything.

Truthfully, Haruka wanted to take the bus with Akashi but like Aomine said, it was late so she allowed Aomine to take her away as she turned her head, looking back at the red head.

~.~

* * *

~.~

Aomine had been acting a little hostile toward Akashi for the next few days after the showcase. Akashi had some suspicions that it had something to do with Haruka but he wasn't quite sure about it himself. The only way to confirm it was to ask Aomine about it. As they were taking a little break from their practice, Akashi approached Aomine.

"Aomine."

"What?"

"Is there something wrong? You're particularly hostile lately for no reason."

Aomine looked at the red head and wiped his sweat with his shirt. "It's not for no reason," Aomine said, grabbing a basketball and bounced it, dribbling it up to the net and threw it into the basket. As he returned, Aomine glared a little at Akashi. "You're getting dangerously close to the princess."

"You mean Haruka? I don't see how that is a problem. Are you just jealous?"

"I'm not," Aomine snapped, giving Akashi a look. He sighed softly and calmed himself down before looking at Akashi again. "I don't want the princess to get hurt. It's safe to say that apart from me, she never had a man in her life. Having Hayato-san as her father might as well be like not having father to Haruka. He's never there for her. And although I would love to be there, there are times when I can't be by her side.

"The princess grew up quite lonely, being an only child. It didn't really show at first. She would always smile and laugh when she was with Satsuki and I but as the years go by, she changed. She started shutting everyone off. Satsuki and I tried very hard to get her to open up to us again. I know the princess. The reason why she's so anti-social is because it's a defence mechanism.

"I'm not saying that you're a bad person but it's very hard for the princess to trust in someone and get so close to them. I just don't want her to get hurt. It's more than enough pain for her that her own father had hurt her. The princess doesn't need some teenage boy playing with her feelings."

Akashi was surprised to hear that about Haruka. He always knew she didn't like being around people but he didn't know the reason behind it. Aomine wasn't hostile toward Akashi for no reason, he was just being a good friend and protecting her like a knight in shining armour should. "I am not some teenage boy playing with her feelings. I genuinely do care about Haruka, Aomine. You have nothing to worry about."

"I hope so."


	5. First Time

_Reviews would be appreciated~_

* * *

**It's Love, You Fool**

**GoM x OC**

**First Time**

**~.~**

Haruka tapped her foot lightly on the floor and her pencil on her book. She couldn't help but glance over to Akashi who was diligently writing down notes, concentrating on the lesson unlike her. Lately, Haruka had been looking Akashi's way more often and she had no idea why.

Ever since the showcase, every time Haruka looked at Akashi, she would feel her heart pounding. Every time Akashi talked to her, she couldn't help but let out a small smile. Every time Akashi looked her in the eyes, Haruka would look away with a blush on her cheeks. One would say that Haruka had a crush on the red head but the blonde was denying it.

Feeling eyes on him, Akashi turned his head to the left and Haruka immediately looked back to her own book, sitting up straight and pretended to have been concentrating on the lesson the entire time. A smile appeared on Akashi's face and he went back to his own notes.

Haruka wasn't the only one feeling odd when around the red head. Whenever Akashi was around Haruka, he just couldn't help but smile. This stoic girl who was always harsh and rude to her childhood friend was nice and smiled whenever she was with Akashi. Their journey on the bus to and from school was one of the things that made Akashi get out of bed every morning. The Haruka on stage performing would constantly appear in Akashi's mind and he wished to see her like that more often.

~.~

* * *

~.~

The bell signalled for the end of the day and everyone started packing up. Haruka was packing up extra slow and Akashi looked over to her, wondering if she was okay. As he was going to approach her, Midorima cut in and looked at Akashi. "Let's go. Coach said he wants to tell us something today, didn't he?" Akashi nodded and allowed Midorima to lead the way.

The red head looked back to the blonde girl and smiled a little before walking off with Midorima.

Haruka slung her bag over her shoulder when she finished packing and looked at Akashi's empty desk. Haruka always thought it was weird how even though they were headed the same way, they never went to their clubs together.

As Haruka past by the basketball club, she peeked into the first auditorium and sat Akashi standing by the door. He was sweating from his practice and wiped his sweat off with his shirt. As he did, he noticed Haruka outside and looked over. Haruka blushed and quickly looked away, quickening her pace and disappeared.

The old gymnasium's electricity was back on and there was no reason for Teiko Angels to ask the basketball club for a practice space to Haruka's disappointment. As usual, Natsuki was the only member missing. Haruka put her bag down and joined Kaoru on the floor, doing some stretching together. The door to the gymnasium was kicked open and it came off the hinge.

"Oops..." Natsuki said, looking at the broken door. "I'll get it fixed, don't worry. Okay girls, we've got the Teiko Festival coming up," Natsuki smiled. "This is my favourite time of the year. It's the annual school festival and Teiko Angels get to do another showcase plus a concert on the last night."

"Ah...sounds like a lot of work," Chinatsu pouted and laid on the floor.

"You're the captain, Chinatsu, please be more enthusiastic," Natsuki smiled even though the smile itself looked rather threatening.

"Does this mean we're doing a whole new list of dance?" Haruka asked. Deep down in her heart, she was praying that they weren't going to do anymore cute dances. She was disgusted enough with the last showcase, she didn't want to die of cuteness overdose.

Natsuki pulled out her laptop as usual and set it in front of Haruka. Haruka gave her a look but Natsuki only smiled. "Only you would need this anyway," Natsuki stated. "For the showcase, we will be keeping to the same line-up as the last showcase. For the concert, however, we'll be doing some new dance. We'll be asking the crowd to join in with Caramelldansen. Then, we'll be doing Happy Synthesizer."

Just by listening to the song titles, Haruka knew she wasn't going to escape from the cute dances and costumes. And true to the titles, the dances were extremely cute and Haruka was already dreading learning them. Natsuki smiled and laughed a little, petting Haruka's shoulder gently.

"Don't worry, I'm not that cruel. Teiko Angels can't always be cute so I thought that we should do something entirely different. And by that, I mean sexy," Natsuki smirked a little.

This time, it was Kaoru who looked like she was in trouble. "Guess we can't cater to everyone," Kiyoko smirked, ruffling Kaoru's hair. "This is when you take your own advice. Imagine you're doing it for someone you like."

"I've chosen one song," Natsuki grinned. "Express will be our very first sexy dance. We won't be doing a cover but rather, coming up with our own choreography. The original from the movie is too sexy for school standard."

"I've got the perfect song!" Chinatsu gasped. "First Love! I know it has pole dancing in it but we can come up with our own choreography and take that bit out. It'll be totally sexy!"

Haruka petted Kaoru's knee gently as they got up, getting to choreograph the first song that Natsuki chose. Like Haruka struggling with being cute, Kaoru was struggling with the sexy concept though Haruka had been helpful and showed her ways to express the sexiness. By the time they finished the choreography for the first song, it was the end of club activities.

Haruka packed up her things and was the second last to leave. She walked past the basketball club and peeked in, trying to see if Akashi would be taking the bus with her. Practice was still going on in the basketball club and Haruka looked a little disappointed as she retreated from the auditorium. Without Akashi, Haruka headed for the bus stop, plugging her earphones in.

Cars were driving by and Haruka stopped at the crossing, waiting for the traffic to die down. While listening to the songs Natsuki sent to her, Haruka unconsciously started moving her arms to the choreography. When the traffic stopped, Haruka stepped onto the crossing but was pulled back as a motorcycle zoomed past.

Haruka was pulled into someone's arms and her chin was lifted, tilting her head back. It was odd enough that Haruka was pulled into someone's arms and even odder when lips were pressed against hers. Haruka couldn't quite see who her saviour was but she managed to catch a glimpse of red hair.

"I've always wanted to do that," Akashi said, pulling away from the kiss.

By this time, Haruka's face was bright red and she was frozen in place. Akashi pulled her earphones out of her ears and smiled a little at her. Haruka took the earphones from him and Akashi took the chance, holding her hand in his.

"You didn't wait for me," Akashi said, crossing the road safely with Haruka by his side. "I thought we always took the bus together?"

"Y-you were st-still in practice. I-I thought you w-wouldn't be taking the b-bus..."

Akashi chuckled softly at Haruka's stuttering, making her blush even more. "Good thing practice ended on time or else I wouldn't be holding your hand like this," Akashi said. "You're really making it a habit for me to save you."

"Y-you don't h-have to hold m-my hand."

"I want to."

"Akashi-kun?"

Akashi looked at the blonde whose blush didn't seem to want to go away. "I know you're not used to this but will you give me a chance?" Akashi asked, looking into her eyes sincerely. "I promise you will never get hurt. From now on, I will only make you smile."

~.~

* * *

~.~

Teiko's festival had been going well and the Teiko Angels' showcase went smoothly. The only thing left now was the concert and the girls were already preparing for it, waiting backstage as the audience started gathering in front of the stage.

Haruka took in a deep breath, letting it out slowly. Her mind wasn't on the concert at all. Her showcase performance, although good, wasn't the most ideal. Chinatsu had to constantly remind her to smile and she wasn't as cute as she was during the very first showcase. That was because the only thing on Haruka's mind was Akashi.

After his confession, Haruka's mind had gone blank. She didn't give him an answer and they had been quite awkward ever since. Haruka wasn't even sure if what he said to her was a confession. Maybe Akashi was just offering her friendship. Haruka sighed, closing her eyes and her eyebrows knitted together. She wasn't experienced enough in this field and there wasn't anyone she could ask without being teased.

"Haruka!"

Someone smacked Haruka behind her head, snapping Haruka out of her thoughts. Chinatsu looked at the girl and frowned. "What is wrong with you?" she asked. "Get yourself together, Haruka, the concert's about to start," Chinatsu said, putting a hand on Haruka's shoulder. "You can do this. You only have to be cute for two dances."

"Is that supposed to be encouraging?"

"Deal with it! I'm not good with words!"

"You're not good with a lot of things."

"Haruka!"

Haruka caught sight of Kaoru who looked like she was about to hyperventilate. Haruka went up to her and tapped her shoulder gently. "You'll be fine," Haruka said. This was probably the first time ever she had comforted someone but Kaoru looked so vulnerable that Haruka just couldn't help herself. "You're better at being sexy than I am at being cute."

"But your cuteness is so convincing," Kaoru whispered. It sounded as if she was about to pass out any time soon.

"Imagine the audience is a sea of teddy bears," Haruka said. "It helped me when I did gymnastics competitions. Except I didn't imagine a sea of teddy bears. I imagined Ao trying to do gymnastics and failing miserably but I don't think that really applies for you."

Kaoru giggled a little, feeling a little more relaxed. "You're very good at comforting people, Haruka-san. You should do it more often," Kaoru smiled. "And yes, a sea of teddy bears definitely relate more than Aomine-kun to me."

Before long, the concert started. The audience cheered loudly as the screen showed Teiko Angels' logo on it. As the first song played, they went onto the stage. They did the dance perfectly and even got the audience joining in. Haruka looked over to Kaoru who was definitely more relaxed and had more of a natural look on her face.

Kaoru did perfectly well in the sexy dances and they got them over and done with. When the last song ended, Haruka thought that was it for the concert. She bowed to the audience with her members and turned to walk off the stage when Natsuki grabbed her by the collar, stopping her. A member from the broadcasting club came on the stage, talking about something about an interview.

Haruka frowned and looked at Natsuki for an explanation. "It seems like Teiko Angels got quite popular and now the boys in school want to know more about us," Natsuki whispered. "I only knew about this interview five minutes before the concert started."

"So, I'll just get straight to the point. A lot of people want to know what kind of guys the Angels like."

"I like guys who are good at what they do," Chinatsu smiled. "Only because I'm never good at what I do."

"Good looking guys," Kiyoko shrugged. "Someone who's taller than I am."

"I like smart guys," Natsuki grinned. "Guys with glasses are really attractive."

"I-I like tall guys," Kaoru gulped.

"I like Aka-"

Haruka stopped herself before she made a mistake. She very nearly said the red head's name but managed to stop herself jut in time. Everyone looked at her, expecting an answer out of her.

"I like the colour red."

"Seems like our Haru-Haru is a bit ditzy. The question was what kind of guys you like, Haru-Haru."

Haruka stared at the broadcasting club member who was being extremely patient with Haruka. Out of the corner of her eye, Haruka saw Aomine in the crowd. For the festival, Aomine was with the basketball club to show off his skills and hopefully attract potential basketball players next year for the school. From what Haruka knew, Akashi was with the basketball club for the festival too.

She scanned around Aomine and finally laid her eyes on the red head who most likely heard her embarrassing mistake. "That was my first kiss." The broadcasting member frowned, walking closer to Haruka and tugged on her sleeve gently. Haruka ignored him and looked straight into Akashi's eyes. "You took my first kiss. I...I don't mind if you become my first boyfriend."

"A confession?!" Chinatsu gasped.

"What are you talking about, princess?! Which bastard took your first kiss?!" Aomine shouted, drawing attention to himself.

"Such a bold confession doesn't suit you, Haruka," Akashi said, pushing through the crowd and ended up right at the front. "I cannot let you beat me in bravery. The one who confessed first was me and now you're stealing the spotlight."

"Akashi?!" Aomine and Chinatsu exclaimed.

"My offer still stands. From now on, I will only make you smile. What do you say to that?"

Akashi held his hand out for Haruka and everyone fell silent, all eyes on the blonde girl. Haruka walked up to the edge of the stage and sat down, pushing herself off the stage. She stumbled a little but caught Akashi's hand, stabling herself.

"Yes."


	6. Don't Touch That

_Reviews would be appreciated~_

* * *

**It's Love, You Fool**

**GoM x OC**

**Don't Touch That**

**~.~**

Kaoru rubbed her hands, blowing hot air into them. She had rushed out of her house and had forgotten her gloves. The cold winter air had no mercy on her as Kaoru made her way to school.

Kaoru hadn't always been one for socialising. The first year in middle school was almost coming to an end and the only friends she had made were the girls from Teiko Angels. Even the most anti-social Haruka managed to get a boyfriend.

She looked around her as students from Teiko were happily walking together in pairs and in groups as they headed to school while Kaoru was walking by herself. She never minded the solitude lifestyle she led but she couldn't help but feel a little jealous sometimes when she saw girls with their boyfriends. Not one for talking to boys, it was needless to say that Kaoru had never had a boyfriend.

As she entered into Teiko's property, Kaoru spotted Haruka with Akashi, walking in at the same time. Haruka's scarf was falling off her shoulder and Akashi fixed it for her before taking her hand, asking if she was warm enough. Kaoru watched in envy, wondering when she would find a boyfriend who would treat her like Akashi was treating Haruka.

Kaoru then watched as Aomine came joining the couple, wedging himself in between the two as he grinned at Haruka. Even if Kaoru had a friend like Aomine, she wouldn't mind at all.

Someone bumped into Kaoru, knocking her over when she wasn't paying attention. "Oops, didn't see you." Kaoru looked up to see who the person was. She was staring at someone's chest and had to pull her head further back to actually look at the person's face. "You're so tiny."

_Tall_

That was the first thing that crossed her mind. Kaoru pulled herself up and stared at the boy. She didn't even come up to his shoulders and Kaoru was finding herself feeling a little shy. "It's okay...I wasn't paying any attention," Kaoru said softly.

The boy nodded and walked on, munching on a bag of potato chips. Kaoru stared after him and touched her cheeks gently. She didn't need gloves to keep her hands warm as the heat from her cheeks was sufficient enough. Could he be the one Kaoru had been looking for?

~.~

Kaoru stood in the line, waiting to buy her lunch. Lunch time was Kaoru's least favourite school time because she always ate alone. She contemplated asking the Teiko Angels to have lunch with her but figured they probably have better people to eat with. She took a step forward and looked at the food available. She bought a meal and went on to look at the snacks.

The last Maiu-bo was eye-catching and Kaoru reached for it when someone behind her spoke up. "Don't touch that." Kaoru looked behind her and saw the same tall male who knocked her over that morning. "That's the last Maiu-bo and I want it."

"O-okay..."

Kaoru wasn't entirely sure why she had given up the snack so easily. Maiu-bo was easily her favourite snack and it had been a while since she last had a snack. This person was probably the first person who was able to make Kaoru give up Maiu-Bo so easily.

He reached out and took the Maiu-bo. He started getting other snacks as well and Kaoru watched him. "Isn't that too many snacks?" she suddenly blurted out. She covered her mouth and stared at him. "Sorry, please ignore me."

~.~

Kaoru was the first to arrive at the old gymnasium like always, she put her bag down and sat in the middle of the building, doing some stretches. The door opened and Haruka walked in. Kaoru looked up and smiled softly when she saw the girl. Haruka had the usual stoic expression on her face but as soon as she saw Kaoru, she gave a little smile.

Although she felt that it was one-sided, Kaoru honestly thought that Haruka was her best friend. She was definitely someone Kaoru could relate to. Haruka walked over to Kaoru and handed her a snack. A Maiu-bo to be exact. "I don't really like snacks," Haruka said. "Do you like these?"

"I love them," Kaoru smiled, taking the snack and opened it, munching on it instantly. "Why do you have it?"

"Ao gave it to me. He stole it from someone," Haruka shrugged. "Can you help me stretch?"

Kaoru nodded and the two girls sat facing each other with their legs spread out and their feet touching. They held hands and took turns pulling and pushing while the other members slowly arrived at the old gymnasium.

They worked on choreographies for the very last showcase of the year and they were all knackered by the time they were done. Haruka walked with Kaoru as they left the gymnasium but stopped outside the basketball auditorium. She peeked inside and Kaoru stood behind her, looking in. "Ten more minutes." Kaoru assumed it was Akashi telling Haruka to wait for another ten minutes and the two girls sat by the side.

"You don't have to wait with me," Haruka said, looking at Kaoru.

"I have nothing else to do anyway," Kaoru smiled. "It's sweet how you and Akashi-kun always go home together."

"We take the same bus."

A basketball was bounced gently on Haruka's head and the two girls looked up to see a grinning, sweating Aomine. "Here to pick up your boyfriend?" he teased, pinching Haruka's nose. "Where's Big Tits? Is she not going to bother you today?"

"Chinatsu-san has gone home already," Kaoru said.

"Oh? New friend?"

"She's Kaoru-san," Haruka said, smacking the basketball out of Aomine's hand so he would stop bouncing it on her head. "She's in Teiko Angels to-"

A basketball flew their way and Aomine managed to get Haruka out of harm's way. Kaoru, however, wasn't so lucky. She was hit in the cheek and was knocked over by the sheer force.

"Kaoru-san!"

"Oopsie."

Kaoru slowly sat up, rubbing her already red cheek. The tall, purple-haired male who threw the ball walked over to apologise to Kaoru. Kaoru looked up at him and her face went even redder than her bruise. "Are you okay, Kaoru-san?" Haruka asked.

"Y-yeah..." she whispered.

"Maiu-bo girl," Murasakibara frowned a little. "Ah, she's Aka-chin's girlfriend's friend. Sorry~"

"It's okay," Kaoru said.

Haruka took a look at Kaoru's bruise and frowned slightly. "Are you sure? It has gone really red."

"Be careful next time, Murasakibara," Akashi said. The purple-haired male stuck his tongue out and shrugged. "Is she okay, Haruka?"

Kaoru gave Haruka a smile and nodded, getting up. "I should get going then. Don't worry about it, I'll be fine," she smiled. "I'll see you tomorrow, Haruka-san." Kaoru headed for the door and looked back over her shoulder to catch one last look at the tall male but instead, walked into the door. Kaoru blushed and ran off.

~.~

* * *

~.~

"Hm...they don't have Maiu-bo..." Murasakibara frowned, standing at the front of the queue and looked around as he searched for his favourite snack. "Auntie, do you not have any more Maiu-bo?"

"Oh sorry, we ran out. We won't get anymore until tomorrow."

Murasakibara's frown deepened as he paid for the other snacks in his arms and walked off, sulking a little. Suddenly, a Maiu-bo was stuck into the air in front of Murasakibara's face. He looked down and saw the same light-brown haired girl who was going to take the very last Maiu-bo from the other day. "M-maiu-bo," she said. "You want it, don't you?"

"Oh...thank you."

"Kaoru!"

Kaoru looked back to see that Chinatsu was with Haruka, standing not too far away from them. Kaoru looked at Murasakibara and handed the Maiu-bo over before running over to her friends, leaving with them.

Murasakibara stared after her and opened the Maiu-bo, munching on it.

"Who was that guy?" Chinatsu asked, draping an arm around Kaoru's shoulders. "Your boyfriend? Ooh...you never told us you had a boyfriend! You have to share these kind of things, Kaoru! Keeping secrets from your friends is not allowed from a Teiko Angel."

"He's not my boyfriend," Kaoru blushed.

"He's Murasakibara-kun. A basketball player," Haruka said.

Chinatsu switched from attaching to Kaoru to Haruka. "I hate basketball players," Chinatsu mocked Haruka, doing the same expression that Haruka always had on her face. "Except for Akashi Seijuro. Kyaaaa~ Sei-chan is so adorable! Sei-chan is so sexy! I love Sei-chan's red hair!" Chinatsu continued to tease Haruka in a high-pitched annoying voice.

Haruka stuck her foot in front of Chinatsu, tripping her up. Chinatsu fell forward, bumping into the person in front of her who just so happened to be Aomine coming around the corner. Chinatsu fell on top of Aomine with her chest in his face. "Oops..." Haruka said with no expression. "Are you okay, Chinatsu? Ao must be in heaven right now."

"Hm hm hm hmhm hm hm..."

"What did you say, Dai-chan?"

Chinatsu got up, her face bright red. "Big Tits have very soft boobs," Aomine repeated, earning a slap across the cheek from Chinatsu. "THAT WAS A COMPLIMENT, STUPID BIG TITS!"

"That's just you being a pervert! It's not a compliment! Stay away from me, you boob freak!"

"Says the stupid Big Tits!"

Kaoru raised an eyebrow and looked at Haruka and Momoi. "Are they really okay?" she asked. "Shouldn't we...keep them away from each other in case something happens?"

"Hm...they've been fighting quite often lately," Momoi commented. "Haru-Haru, are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"A match made in heaven."

"NO WE'RE NOT!"

"Ah, Ao, do you know Murasakibara-kun?"

Aomine pulled away from the argument and gave Haruka a look. He got up and placed an arm around her, smirking a little. "Getting confident after one boyfriend and we're cheating now, huh? I admire your bravery but I don't think you would want to chat on Akashi."

Simultaneously, Haruka and Chinatsu punched Aomine in the stomach. "Don't insult our Haruka like that," Chinatsu glared, pushing Aomine's arm off Haruka's shoulders. "And she's asking for Kaoru."

"Kaoru?"

Chinatsu and Haruka pointed at their friend who had been keeping quiet. Kaoru looked at them with big eyes as her face slowly reddened. "Er...really, you don't have to do this. It's like not I've got a crush on him or anything...I um...I was just being nice and gave him a Maiu-bo, nothing else."

"You have a crush on the giant?" Aomine frowned.

"I told you it's not a crush!"

"It's so a crush," Chinatsu smirked. "Give her a little help, aho."

"Shut up, Big Tits."

Kaoru blushed and was bewildered at the situation. This was the first time she was experiencing what it was like to have friends. And to have a crush. And to have friends help you with that crush. "Help her, Ao."

"Well, since the princess asked so nicely," Aomine sighed, looking at Kaoru. "I can't guarantee anything. That lump doesn't seem like he cares about anything apart from snacks."

"It's fine, I totally understand," Kaoru smiled. "Thank you, Aomine-kun."

Murasakibara walked over and blinked, staring at the group. "Oh, Mine-chin," he smiled before locking eyes with Kaoru. "Maiu-bo girl. Thanks, by the way," he said. "I'll see you at practice, Mine-chin."

"Yeah," Aomine said, waving the purple-haired male off. "Looks like I don't need to do anything. He noticed you already."

"Maiu-bo girl?" Chinatsu raised an eyebrow. "Why does everyone else get the cool nickname and I get a perverted one?"


	7. Second Year

_Reviews would be appreciated~_

* * *

**It's Love, You Fool**

**GoM x OC**

**Second Year**

**~.~**

"Good morning."

Haruka sat at the dining table and her mother turned around, looking at her daughter. Just to Haruka's left was Hayato who was taking some time off from his basketball career. Usually, Haruka would just take a piece of toast and eat her breakfast while going to school. It was extremely rare that she would share a meal at the same table as her father.

"G-good morning, Haruka," her mother greeted, sitting down and handed Haruka a glass of milk. "Haruka, are you...okay?"

Haruka looked up from her breakfast, taking a sip of the milk. "I'm fine," she stated. "I'll be home late today. Natsuki-senpai wants us to stay back for practice so we can recruit first years. I won't be eating tonight."

"It's only the first day of school, Haruka," her mother frowned. "You have practices on the first day?"

"Natsuki-senpai's our manager and Chinatsu-san's the captain. I have no say in this," Haruka said, tearing her toast apart and put the smaller pieces in her mouth one by one as she chewed.

Haruka's phone buzzed and she looked at it, flipping it open. A smile appeared on her face as she typed a response to the message, sending it before putting her phone down. Noticing a difference in his daughter's behaviour, Hayato frowned a little and put down his cutlery. "I've never seen you text anyone before, not even Daiki. Who was that?"

"I'm going now," Haruka said, ignoring her father and got up. Half of her breakfast was still untouched and Haruka took a toast, holding it between her lips as she grabbed her bag, going to put her shoes on.

Hayato frowned and looked at his wife for an explanation. "I think Haruka has a boyfriend," she said, smiling a little. "She's changed so much ever since she got into middle school. Haven't you noticed that she's been smiling more? And she sat down willingly to have breakfast with you. This is a good thing, darling. I just wish Haruka would tell us things like this."

"How do you know then?"

"A mother knows," his wife said, petting Hayato gently on the shoulder. She looked at him and sighed. "Darling...is it too much to ask for you to spend some time with Haruka and really get to know her? I hate to see you two so far apart from each other."

"I will if she gives me a chance."

The woman sighed, going back to eating her breakfast. "I really wish Haruka would be more like Satsuki-chan. She never talks about what's on her mind. Not even Daiki or Satsuki-chan knows what she's thinking."

Hayato looked at his wife and decided to keep his mouth shut. He knew that those words were really meant for him. As a father, he was never there for Haruka and he was partially to blame for Haruka's personality now.

~.~

Haruka stood at the bus stop, eagerly waiting for the bus. As the bus arrived, she caught a glimpse of red head near the window where their usual seats were and she smiled, getting on the bus. She looked over to the red head who smiled as soon as his eyes landed on her. Haruka walked over briskly and sat down. They didn't say anything to each other but Akashi took her hand in his.

"I missed you."

"I missed you too."

For an entire month, the two weren't able to meet up and were only able to communicate via text messages. Akashi had his own family business to deal with while Haruka was forcefully brought on a tour to watch her father's matches.

Haruka gripped Akashi's hand tightly and looked up at him. "You've grown taller, Sei."

"Have I? I didn't notice," Akashi said and looked down at her, giving her a smile. "And you're still the same size. I like that. Basketball practice starts today so you might have to go home alone. Will you be okay with that?"

"I have practice after school too," Haruka smiled. "We can go home together."

"Can't get rid of you, can I?" Akashi smiled.

They got off the bus together and walked into school. As soon as they were on the property, Haruka was pulled away from Akashi. Before he could react, Haruka was already too far away from him. "Sorry, red head! I'll return her to you by lunch time!" Chinatsu shouted, waving to Akashi. "Okay, we've got our star member. We can officially start recruiting new members!"

"Do I really have to do this? Just you and Natsuki-senpai would be sufficient enough to do this."

"Still so chic," Chinatsu smirked and ruffled Haruka's hair. "And yes, you have to do this. Kaoru and Kiyoko are waiting for us. You're our star, Haru-Haru. No one will want to join if you aren't there."

"Do I have to smile?"

"Of course!"

Haruka sighed as Chinatsu pushed the girl to their stall. Kaoru and Kiyoko looked up with the latter looking away, completely uninterested. "Hi, Haruka-san," Kaoru smiled. "How was your holiday?"

"Horrible."

~.~

Haruka stretched her arms and groaned softly. For the last two hours in the old gymnasium, they had been auditioning people for Teiko Angels since so many people applied for the club. Haruka was getting tired of smiling and was glad that they were finally done. Decisions making was up to Chinatsu and Natsuki so Haruka left first.

She walked up to the basketball auditorium and waited outside, poking her head in to see if Akashi was done. "Who is this beautiful princess?" Aomine smirked, hanging his towel on Haruka's head. "Here to see Akashi?"

Haruka frowned and pulled the towel off her head, throwing it at her childhood friend. "That's disgusting, Ao," she stated, stepping into the auditorium. "And yes, I'm looking for Sei. We're going home together today."

"Don't you always go home together?" Aomine rolled his eyes and caught the towel, draping an arm around her shoulders as he pressed his sweaty self against her. "Akashi! The princess is here!" he called.

Akashi stopped midway through his dribbling up to the basket and looked over to the door. He smiled and walked over to her. Haruka handed him a towel and Akashi wiped his sweat. "Ten more minutes," he said. "Aomine, get back to practice. Sit down by the door, I'll be with you soon," Akashi said, wiping his sweat and handed the towel back to Haruka.

Haruka nodded and Aomine ruffled her hair, rushing back to practice with Akashi. While she was waiting, the door to the auditorium opened and Chinatsu poked her head in. Haruka raised an eyebrow and Chinatsu looked at her with wide eyes. "Why are you still here?" she asked. "I thought you've gone home with red head already."

"Akashi said ten more minutes," Haruka said. "What are you doing here?"

"Er...to see if you've gone home!"

"Chinatsu-san?"

"Big Tits!"

Aomine came back to the door and placed his arm around Chinatsu's shoulders. "I told you not to call me that!" Chinatsu glared, elbowing Aomine in the ribs. Unusually, Aomine laughed instead of shouting at Chinatsu, starting an argument. "I'm going home now. I'll see you tomorrow, Haruka."

"What's going on?" Haruka frowned.

"Huh? Oh yeah!" Aomine smirked. "We went on a few dates during the holiday and decided to give dating a try."

"Aomine!" Nijimura shouted. Aomine winced and gave his captain a sheepish smile before going back to practice but not after giving Chinatsu a wink. Nijimura looked at the two girls and frowned at them. "We should really have a rule banning girlfriends from visiting. They're distracting the players."

~.~

* * *

~.~

"We have a new member," Aomine said, munching on his burger and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. Chinatsu frowned and handed him a napkin, making him wipe himself clean properly. "Kise Ryouta. Cool dude, pretty bad at basketball. Apparently a model."

"Maybe I should date him then," Chinatsu mumbled.

Haruka watched her two friends, feeling a little uncomfortable. Akashi opened the can of drink for her and pressed it into Haruka's hand, getting her attention. "He would be a starting member soon," Akashi stated, eating his bento. Haruka looked at Akashi and he picked the tempura, feeding it to her.

It wasn't too long ago that Akashi had became the captain of the basketball club and Haruka felt that he was a little different ever since but he was still Akashi, Haruka's boyfriend. "You promised no talking about basketball," she said, picking the grain of rice stuck on the corner of Akashi's lips. "And why are we having lunch with Ao and Chinatsu-san? They make me feel so uncomfortable."

"Oi! Well now you know how I feel when I have to watch you and Akashi!" Aomine complained.

"It's a double date," Chinatsu smiled. "I've always wanted to try a double date. We should go on a proper one next time," she grinned.

"Haruka and I would prefer not to have others on our date with us," Akashi said. "Mainly because our dates are quite often spent at my house. Although, if you don't mind horse-riding, we could double date then."

Aomine raised an eyebrow and looked at Haruka. "At Akashi's house? My princess is no longer pure..."

"We're not perverted like you, Ao."


	8. Tutor Me

_Reviews would be appreciated~_

* * *

**It's Love, You Fool**

**GoM x OC**

**Tutor Me**

**~.~**

Aomine stared at his results from the test and a frown appeared. He wasn't the smartest cookie but even he was surprised at the low mark he got for the last test. The teacher looked over to Aomine and sighed softly, shaking his head. "Aomine-kun," he called out and signalled for the tanned male to stay behind while the other students left. "As you can see, you're struggling a little with your studies."

"It's not struggling if I was never good at it," Aomine said. "Or gave a damn about it."

The teacher let out a sigh and looked up at Aomine. "Well, you better start caring because if your grades continue like so, you won't be allowed to participate in any club activities. That means no more basketball, Aomine-kun."

"What?! But how can I improve? This is the best I've ever got on a test..."

"We've arranged for a student in class 1 to tutor you. Once a week, you would have to meet with your tutor. I hope your grades will improve with this."

Aomine made a face and nodded as the teacher wrote down the details before handing it over to Aomine. After the little meeting, Aomine headed to basketball practice. He had no choice but to go to the tutoring sessions. He didn't want to miss out on anything basketball because of a few low grades. "Aominecchi! What's with the long face?" Kise smiled.

"Ah...I have to start going to tutoring sessions because of my low grades..."

"Oh? Me too! Maybe we have the same tutor, Aominecchi!"

"Huh? I'm stuck with you? I don't want it."

~.~

* * *

~.~

"Why are you following me?" Aomine frowned, looking back at Kise who had been tailing him since practice ended.

"I'm going to tutor," Kise pointed out.

They arrived outside a classroom and Aomine opened the door walking in. Sitting at a desk was a familiar blonde girl. Haruka looked up from her book and stared at her childhood friend. "You're late," she stated with an unimpressed look. She slammed her book shut and Aomine shuddered a little. "Sit down and get your stuff out."

Haruka got up from the desk and walked up to the board as Aomine listened to her obediently while Kise looked a little confused. He looked at Haruka before grinning. "Hey! You're Haru-Haru from Teiko Angels! You're even cuter up clo-"

A board wiped flew in his direction but thanks to his reflexes, Kise dodged it. He looked at Haruka with wide, scared eyes. "Sit down and get your stuff out," she repeated. Kise gulped and quickly moved to sit down in a desk next to Aomine.

"What's with her?"

"I didn't think they would make her my tutor..." Aomine muttered. "There's a reason why I ask Satsuki for help when homework is concerned instead of the princess...she's a Spartan."

This time, a piece of chalk was thrown at Aomine and hit him square in the forehead. "I don't want to be here either," Haruka stated. "But it turns out that I'm one of the ones with the best grades in school and you two the worst. And I need to improve on my disciplinary score. Apparently I'm the number one cold and unapproachable senpai voted by the first years."

Aomine snickered and another chalk flew in his direction, hitting him in the forehead again. "It's not my fault you're only mushy and squishy around Akashi!" Aomine shouted.

"You're Akashicchi's girlfriend?!"

Books flew in their direction as Haruka sighed angrily. "We'll be doing Biology today. Open your books to photosynthesis. Your grades were atrocious on this subject," Haruka stated, writing on the board.

Kise looked at Aomine and blinked. "What's photosynthesis?" he mumbled.

"How should I know? Photo...what?"

"Photosynthesis," Haruka said, turning around and glared at them. "Turn to page forty-six. How stupid can you be?"

"Just because you're smart!" Aomine shouted at Haruka who was preparing to throw something else at him. "At least Satsuki is patient and actually teaches me!"

"It's so easy to understand! Why is it so hard for you?!" Haruka shouted back.

The door to the classroom slid open and the trio in the classroom looked at the door simultaneously. In walked Akashi with Chinatsu and Kiyoko in tow. They stopped and looked at the trio. "So you're tutoring them, Haruka?" Akashi asked, looking at Aomine and Kise. "You're in good hands."

"No we're not! She's a Spartan!"

"Why couldn't Akashicchi tutor us instead?"

In the end, Chinatsu and Kiyoko joined the two boys, sitting at desks while Akashi stood with Haruka at the front. They had decided to join their tutoring sessions with Akashi helping with maths while Haruka dealt with the sciences. Since Haruka already started, Akashi decided to let her tutor first, sitting aside. "The equation for photosynthesis is water plus carbon dioxide and light energy goes to give glucose, oxygen and water."

While spurting out the theory, Haruka was writing down the equation on the board. Without stopping, she continued with the theory of photosynthesis while the four who were being tutored were trying their best to keep up, writing down the notes though none of them understood anything. When she finished, Haruka turned around and looked at the four.

"That's it for photosynthesis."

"Huh?" Aomine frowned. "What's C six, H twelve and...O six?"

"Glucose. Weren't you listening?"

"What's a...chloro...plast?" Kise frowned.

"Where the photosynthesis takes place in the place. Were you listening?"

Chinatsu groaned and collapsed on her desk, pouting. "This is so hard..." she mumbled. "Why is it even harder to understand compared to normal lessons?" she frowned, looking at Haruka. "What does all those symbols mean?"

"That's the equation for photosynthesis," Haruka stated and frowned at them. "Are you really that stupid?"

"She's really making me angry..." Chinatsu mumbled and glared at Haruka. "You really can't tutor, Haruka. Why did they ask you?"

"Because I happen to get a hundred on my science test while you got four."

"Ouch."

Akashi got up, stepping in before the argument got out of hand. "The theory is all there," Akashi said. "If you look at it this way," he said, picking up the chalk and started changing some of the words Haruka used to simpler ones. "Is this easier to understand?"

The four looked at the board, reading over what Akashi changed. "Oh! It's so much easier to understand!" Kise gasped, writing it down immediately. "Man, Akashicchi should have been our tutor from the very beginning. Haru-hime-cchi makes everything so much harder..."

"Haru-hime-cchi?" Haruka frowned.

"Haru is your name. Hime is princess which is what Aominecchi calls you. And I add -cchi to everyone's name whom I admire."

Haruka twitched and Akashi pulled her to one side, saying that he would move on and tutor them on maths instead. The tutoring session went on smoothly and the four by the end of it were able to explain photosynthesis and solve some algebra problems. As they were packing to leave, Akashi noticed that Haruka was sulking a little.

"Are you upset that they don't understand your tutoring?"

"I don't get why they don't understand. That's how I learn."

Akashi smiled and ruffled her hair, taking her hand. "Because you're my smart cookie. Don't think too much about it, you'll improve at teaching. It's getting late, let's go," he said, tugging on her hand gently.

Haruka followed behind him and gave Aomine a look before leaving the classroom with Akashi. Aomine sighed, looking over to Chinatsu. "Wanna get something to eat?" he asked.

"What did you get in the test?"

"Huh? I got three," Aomine mumbled.

"I'm smarter than Daiki!"

Kiyoko sniggered, rolling her eyes at the couple and put her bag on her shoulder, taking her phone out as she left. Kise stared after Kiyoko and smirked a little, getting up to stretch his arms. "I'm hungry too, Aominecchi! Let's get something to eat together!"

"We're going on a date. Don't you dare third wheel us."

"Eh?! But I want to eat something too! Let's go together, Aominecchi!"

"Don't wanna~"


	9. Training Camp

_Reviews would be appreciated~_

* * *

**It's Love, You Fool**

**GoM x OC**

**Training Camp**

**~.~**

"I demand we change the centre," Kiyoko said.

Haruka looked over to Kiyoko who was looking at Chinatsu and Natsuki. The first years cowered in the corner, watching as a fight was breaking out between the senpais. "I don't see a need in changing centre," Chinatsu shrugged. Apart from the first years, the other members were quite used to the complaints from Kiyoko. They were almost always about changing the centre to someone else, preferably her.

"So you think she's doing a good job?"

Haruka stared at them expressionlessly and Natsuki sighed softly. "It's true that Haruka doesn't show a lot of emotions but she always does well when performing," Natsuki said. "And we choreographed this with Haruka as the centre in mind. It would be hard for us to change the choreography if we change the centre now."

"Then how about we have a vote right now? Vote for the person you feel suits the centre spot more," Kiyoko suggested. "I'm not happy with the fact that you just hand the centre spot over to her because she's the best dancer. Good at dancing doesn't necessarily mean good at expressions and the audience look at your expressions too. Just keep that in mind."

"Rather than spending time on something so trivial, won't it be better to get on with practice?" Haruka asked. "And for someone who can't score any higher than twenty on her biology test, you really have guts to challenge my centre spot."

Kiyoko glared and grabbed Haruka's shirt. "What did you just say? Intelligence has nothing to do with dancing. I can be a better centre than you, Matsuoka Haruka. You've really gone big headed lately, haven't you?"

Chinatsu and Natsuki panicked the moment Kiyoko grabbed Haruka's shirt, afraid that a fight would really break out. Kaoru, on the other hand, was trying to calm the first years down, assuring them that this was a regular thing and that nothing had really happened apart from a few spiteful words from one to another.

Kiyoko eventually let go of Haruka under Chinatsu's and Natsuki's persuasion. Haruka looked at Kiyoko before taking position as Natsuki went to play the song again. Kiyoko glared at Haruka's back and as soon as the song started, she moved up to the front, right next to Haruka. The two started doing the dance with Kiyoko fighting for the centre spot.

Halfway through, Haruka stopped and went over to her stuff. She grabbed her towel and wiped her sweat off, taking a sip from her bottle before packing everything. "If she wants the centre spot so badly, give it to her," Haruka said. "I don't really like having to smile so much anyway," she muttered and walked out despite Chinatsu shouting after her.

"I don't need the spot out of pity!" Kiyoko shouted. "Come back here and fight for it! I want to win it fair and square!"

~.~

* * *

~.~

"You've really slacked off at practice, Haruka," Chinatsu frowned.

The Teiko Angels were having lunch together and Chinatsu took this chance to lecture Haruka though she was sure the blonde won't be listening. As expected, Haruka's only reaction was to shrug. "I'm no longer the centre, there's no point in trying so hard," Haruka stated, poking the frankfurter with her chopstick and delivered it to her mouth.

Kaoru sighed, catching everyone's attention. "Speaking of centre...Kiyoko-san as the centre...somehow, it feels awkward," she said, looking at the captain and senpai. "I mean, when Haruka-san was the centre, although stoic during practice, she would always interact with the rest of us when we're on the stage. It makes me feel that we're really a team performing. With Kiyoko-san, however, it feels like we're back-up dancers for an idol."

"Which is why you shouldn't try so hard," Haruka pointed out.

"Stop spreading negative energy to other members," Natsuki scolded, getting Haruka into a headlock and rubbed her knuckle against Haruka's temple. "And our problem is you and Kiyoko," Natsuki sighed. "Both of you are causing us so much trouble by arguing and fighting all the time. And this time you've actually swapped places without consulting us. Do you know how much trouble you've caused me? I had to redo the whole choreography."

"Oh, Kiyoko-san," Kaoru blinked, seeing Kiyoko heading their way. "Kiyoko-san, are you joining us for lunch?"

Kiyoko looked over to Haruka and rolled her eyes before walking the other way without a word. "Hm...Kiyoko's and Haruka's relationship really is a problem," Chinatsu said, rubbing her chin gently before gasping softly as she came up with an idea. "I know! Let's have a training camp!"

"Training camp?"

~.~

* * *

~.~

Arriving at the beach, the girls picked their spot to set up camp. While the Haruka and Kaoru gathered firewood, the rest of them were pitching the tents. Once they were done, the camp fire was burning away and they sat around it in a circle. Natsuki looked at them but nobody said a thing.

"Okay...camping is now officially awkward," Natsuki said before sighing. "Right, the whole point of this training camp is for us to get closer and for some people to get along," she stated, looking over to Haruka and Kiyoko who sat opposite each other, not making eye contact at all. "To start, let's tell each other something that no one else knows. I'll start. Um...I can't sleep without my toy bunny."

To support her statement, Natsuki reached into her bag and pulled out a pink bunny, hugging it in her arms. Haruka raised an eyebrow and let out a huge sigh. "I had to run out of the bathroom naked once on a school trip because the mean girls took my clothes," Chinatsu said. "The teachers wrapped me up in towels and had to call my parents."

"That's real embarrassing," Kiyoko stated.

"Isn't this the whole point? To tell everyone something embarrassing," Chinatsu smirked. "That's my most embarrassing story and Haruka, don't you dare tell that Daiki."

"I've never had friends before," Kaoru said softly, looking at them. "You guys are the first friends I have and this is my first ever sleepover. Sort of."

Natsuki pouted and placed an arm around Kaoru, giving her a hug. "We will always be your friends," she smiled. "And I'm really liking this, getting to know each other. We should do this more often. Have more sleepovers."

"No thank you," Kiyoko said coldly.

"What is with you?" Chinatsu frowned. "Why do you always say such spiteful things? Why are you even in Teiko Angels if you hate everything we do so much? I'm starting to see why Haruka doesn't get along with you..."

"Because this is stupid," Kiyoko stated.

"I'm scared of ghosts." Everyone looked in Haruka's direction and stared at the girl. "When we were five, Ao locked me in a room and turned all the lights off. He make ghost noises and told me to be very careful of the monster under the bed. He's also the one responsible for Satsuki's fear of frogs."

"Huh...sounds just like Daiki."

Natsuki looked at Kiyoko, waiting for her to say something. Kiyoko rolled her eyes before sighing. "I never had girl friends. Girls were always jealous so none of them wanted to be my friend."

"That's...something," Natsuki smiled.

"It makes me pissed for some reason," Chinatsu mumbled.

"Okay! Moving on. We're doing great, guys. Next thing on the list is...say something bad and something nice about the person you've chosen from the hat," Natsuki smiled, holding a hat with names written on pieces of paper. "Come on, choose."

They each took a name out of the hat and Haruka and Natsuki looked at each other instantly. "I got Kaoru," Chinatsu smiled. "Hm...well, Kaoru's too shy. She doesn't really talk much and it feels like she's not really there sometimes. But...she's the sweetest little thing ever," Chinatsu smirked and pinched Kaoru's cheeks. "She makes me want to protect her at all cost."

Kaoru smiled a little, looking down at her own piece of paper. "I have Natsuki-senpai..." she whispered and looked at the upperclassman. "Um...Natsuki-senpai...can be a little overbearing sometimes, especially when she gives you that threatening smile. But she is a really caring senpai who cares a lot for us."

"Thank you, Kaoru. My turn~ Ah, Hamasaki Chinatsu..." Natsuki sighed softly. "Bit of an airhead and kinda stupid but...she's a great captain and a great friend. Someone who knows how to fun and how to control herself. Teiko Angels is in good hands next year."

Once those three finished, they looked at Haruka and Kiyokoand who clearly had each other. Kiyokoand didn't look like she was going to start so Haruka looked down at her paper and showed the name on it. "Akiyama Kiyoko," Haruka said and looked at the strawberry blonde opposite her. "Arrogant, couldn't care less for others, extremely big headed, rude-"

"OI!"

"You have to say something nice too, Haruka."

Haruka sighed softly. "She's everything I said she is. But, she's also a good dancer. She's arrogant and big headed because she is pretty although I rather she doesn't know it. Somehow I feel that she's really not that confident about herself on the inside which is why she acts rude as a defence mechanism."

Chinatsu raised and eyebrow and looked at Natsuki. "Are you sure this is a great idea? I know Haruka...she's really not the type to go easy on people. She will call you stupid to your face even if you're a Yakuza."

"They'll be fine," Natsuki insisted. "Right, it's your turn, Kiyoko. Remember, something bad and something nice."

"She's emotionless to the point where she's rude. She doesn't really think in others' shoes and want things to be done her way. She's called princess by some and really thinks she's a princess whose world revolve around her. She's selectively nice and doesn't get to know others before she judges them..."

"Something nice, Kiyoko."

Kiyoko rolled her eyes and rested her chin in her palm, her elbow propped up on her knee. "She's actually a really good dancer and as much as I hate to admit it, a much better centre than I am. She just needs to learn to smile more and try and think in others' shoes before she judges them."

"See? Wasn't that nice? We're closer to each other now," Natsuki smiled. "Now who's hungry?"

"Eh? Are you sure this is the way, Ki-chin? Looks like we're lost~"

"I guarantee you that it's this way! Look! I see smoke! I told you it's this way to the beach!"

"There better be bikini babes like you promised, Kise."

"We're here for a training camp, please don't get too excited and have too much fun. Keep our purpose here in mind."

Emerging from the forest behind them was a group of rainbow-haired males. The girls blinked and stared at them while the boys had the same reaction. No one said anything until Natsuki suddenly got up and smiled. "Why if it isn't the basketball club! Fancy meeting you here!"

"We're here for a training camp," Akashi explained and looked over to Haruka. "I didn't know your camp was held here too."

"Oh, but we have an odd number," Chinatsu said, counting up the people in the group. "There's five of us and six of you. Well, six girls and five guys."

"What are you talking about?" Haruka frowned a little. "There's another guy right there," she said, pointing at the boy with light blue hair.

The girls frowned and followed Haruka's finger. They jumped when they saw the boy as well and Aomine grinned, petting Haruka's shoulder. "Well done, princess! No one has really noticed him before! This is Tetsu!"

"Tetsu-kun's my boyfriend!" Momoi grinned, attacking the boy with a hug. "He's so adorable!"

"Momoi-san, please don't do that again," the boy frowned, looking like he was going to pass out from the hug. "And I am not your boyfriend, Momoi-san."

"Now that we have a group of us with girls, let's go ghost hunting!" Kise suddenly gasped. "I heard that this forest is haunted and that there is a house right in the middle of it where the ghost of an old woman lives. Some say that she's a gentle ghost but others say that she's there, waiting for victims."

Haruka froze and looked over up at Aomine who stroked her hair, pulling her into a hug. Everyone else was too hyped up for Haruka to reject the idea. Aomine petted the top of her head and gave her a grin. "Don't worry, I said I would protect you forever, didn't I?"

With no other choice, Haruka tagged along on the ghost hunt. She walked behind Aomine, gripping onto his shirt tightly. Akashi watched Haruka, following behind the two childhood friends as they all headed into the forest. The deeper they walked into the forest, the more scared Haruka got as her grip on Aomine's shirt tightened.

"Daiki, hurry up!"

"Come on, Dai-chan!"

"Aominecchi's so slow! Are you scared?!"

Agitated by the taunts, Aomine quickened his pace. Haruka gripped onto his shirt even tighter but Aomine was too strong and before she knew it, Aomine pulled away, running off to catch up with everyone else. "Ao!" Haruka shouted, breathing heavily as she looked around the dark forest. She screamed when Akashi placed a hand on her shoulder and pulled away from him.

Akashi frowned and held her in his arms, calming her down. "Haruka! It's okay," he said, hushing her. "It's okay. Let Aomine go. I'm here with you."

"Sei!"

"Would you mind telling me why you were holding onto another man and calling his name?"

"It's Ao's fault that I'm afraid of ghosts...he promised to protect me."

Akashi stroked her hair gently and kissed her head, taking her hand. "I'll protect you from now on," he said. "Come on, we'll go back to the beach and wait for them there." As they were making their way back to the beach, Haruka kept close to Akashi, hugging onto his arm tightly. "Nothing's going to happen. Ghosts aren't real."

"Don't say that!" Haruka frowned. "Ao said that if you deny the ghosts, they will haunt you forever to make you believe in them."

"I really need to talk to Aomine about scaring you. Don't believe in anything that he tells you, Haruka," Akashi frowned, leading her to their tent. "Only believe in what I tell you. Ghosts do not exist. And they will never haunt you just because you don't believe in them. I'll always be here to protect you. Be it ghosts or Aomine."

Haruka blushed a little and smiled, kissing Akashi's cheek. "Do you think we can share a tent tonight?" she asked. "N-not to do anything but...I'll have nightmares about ghosts so...I just want you to...you know, be there."

"Yes, your highness."


	10. Smarty-Pants

_Reviews would be appreciated~_

* * *

**It's Love, You Fool**

**GoM x OC**

**Smarty-Pants**

**~.~**

"I should have known you would try to use some cheap moves to scare us, Kise."

"That wasn't nice, Ki-chin~"

"Well, he's not exactly the smartest."

"Kise-kun should just give up."

"Don't be so mean!"

The group emerged from the forest and looked around. The camp fire was still burning away and they sat around it, looking at each other until Chinatsu frowned. She silently started counting everyone, making sure she counted Kuroko as well. "Haruka and the red head is missing," she pointed out. "Did we leave them behind? I don't even remember them being there."

"Shit!" Aomine gasped, getting onto his feet. "I left the princess! Oh god, she's going to murder me!"

"Wait..."

Natsuki got up and walked over to their tent. She unzipped the tent and looked inside with everyone else. Inside the tent were Akashi and Haruka, curled up together with Akashi's arms around Haruka protectively. "Er..." Aomine frowned, clearing his throat. "Akashi? Yeah, I would like to think that my princess is still pure."

Akashi looked at them and pulled away, waking Haruka up. "She is still pure, Aomine. She was scared and needed someone to stay with her," Akashi explained. "It's only natural for me to protect my girlfriend, is it not?"

"At least he didn't abandon me," Haruka said, glaring at Aomine who gulped.

"Well, now that you're awake, shall we play a game? It's still early," Natsuki smiled.

They came out from the tent and joined the rest around the camp fire. They sat awkwardly in silence and looked at each other. "Hm...should we play couple games?" Chinatsu suggested. "There's an even number of guys and girls."

"Tetsu-kun!"

"Looks like I'm paired with Momoi-san."

"Ah, let's play a quiz! The best couple will...be the king and queen for the night!" Natsuki smiled. "In which case...Glasses-kun!" Midorima looked at Natsuki naturally and blinked. "Yes, you. I'm going to pair with you."

They coupled up and sat with their partners. "Wait...oh man, we know who's going to win now, aren't we? They're a couple from class 1!" Aomine frowned, pointing at Haruka and Akashi. "And Midorima's from class 1 too!"

"Okay then, we won't make it an academic quiz. We will come up with the questions ourselves. Each couple will take turn asking and to answer the question, the other couples will have to shout out their team name," Natsuki smiled. "How's that? Okay then, we'll have ten minutes to come up with questions. No peeking! Glasses-kun, let's go."

Each couple went away and came up with questions to ask each other. After the ten minutes, they gathered at the camp fire again, looking at each other. Since Natsuki was the only senior, she decided to have the ones who weren't the brightest to start asking questions. Everyone looked at Aomine and Chinatsu unanimously at the same time.

Chinatsu glared. "Oi! We're not that stupid!"

"Whatever, let's ask our question," Aomine said.

"Okay...let's go with my question," Chinatsu said, suddenly grinning. "After painting your nails, how can you dry them in a minute?"

The boys looked extremely confused, even Aomine. Natsuki gave a laugh, stating how she did say they were allowed to ask anything. Kaoru frowned and looked over to Haruka who looked down at her own nails that were never painted before. Kiyoko looked at the rest of them before smirking a little. "Models," she said, raising her hand. "You put your nails in cold water for a minute."

"Eh?! How did you know that?!" Chinatsu frowned. "Oh yeah...you're a girl...but Kaoru, Haruka and Natsuki-senpai! You're girls too!"

"But we don't paint our nails," Kaoru stated.

"One point to Models," Natsuki said, keeping score. "Next team to ask a question is the Models."

"Okay," Kise smirked, clapping his hands together. "I'm pretty sure you're not going to get this one. What's the difference between a runway model and a supermodel?"

Everyone went quiet as they silently glared at Kise. Kise smirked proudly, folding his arms as he waited for the countdown to finish. "Runway models are fashion models who do runway shows while supermodels are fashion models that appear on fashion magazine covers and commercials," Haruka answered, looking at Kise.

Kise gulped and frowned. "You didn't say your team's name!"

"Princess Akashi," Haruka said, raising her hand. "Runway models are fashion models who do runway shows while supermodels are fashion models that appear on fashion magazine covers and commercials."

"One point to Princess Akashi," Natsuki grinned. "Next team!"

"What is my favourite food?" Murasakibara asked.

"Potato chips!"

"Maiu-bo!"

"Pocky!"

Murasakibara shook his head and smirked a little as he munched on his potato chips. "Looks like the point goes to Maiu-bo Boy and Girl," Natsuki said. "But that was a hard question, Murasakibara-kun. How would we know what you like to eat?"

"It's Nerunerunerune candy~" Murasakibara replied, taking the Maiu-bo from Kaoru's hand and opened it, handing it back. "How can you not know? I always eat it. You guys are so mean~ Is this how it feels not to be noticed, Kuro-chin?"

"You just eat so much that we don't take notice what you like," Kuroko stated. "We're next, Momoi-san."

"Hai, hai!" Momoi grinned. "What is mine, Haru-Haru's and Chinatsu-san's cup size? You have to get them all right!"

Chinatsu and Haruka froze, glaring at Momoi who was beaming brightly at them. Aomine looked at Chinatsu and placed his arm around her shoulders, sneakily reaching down with his hand. Chinatsu grabbed his hand and twisted his arm behind his back. "Don't you even dare," she glared. "What kind of pervy question is that?! How do you know my cup size to begin with?!"

Momoi smirked a little, tapping her nose with her finger gently. "Will you tell us their cup sizes if we give up?" Aomine asked. Chinatsu smacked him behind the head and grabbed his neck with her hands, strangling him. "I'll guess then," Aomine said. "Aren't you an E cup, Satsuki? I remember that the princess is two cups smaller so she's C. As for Chinatsu...she's...D?"

"Wrong~" Momoi smirked and looked over to Akashi. "Would you like to guess, Akashi-kun?"

"No thank you."

"Well, point to Future Kuroko's Wife," Natsuki said, writing down the score. "Do we really need to know their cup size?" she frowned, looking down at her own chests.

"Hm...Chinatsu-san is an E cup and you are right, Dai-chan, I am an E cup. As for Haru-Haru, she's grown and she's now a D cup," Momoi smiled. "And don't worry, Natsuki-senpai. You're a B cup now but it looks like you will have to buy new bras soon. Kiyoko-san and Kaoru-san...B cups are still good enough!"

The three of them looked defeated by Momoi's comment though the pink-haired girl had no ill intentions. Natsuki let out a huge sigh before recovering and smiled brightly. "It's our turn! We are Megane and Glasses-kun will be giving the question," Natsuki smiled. "And before you ask, yes, I do wear glasses but I wear contacts normally."

Midorima pushed on his glasses and cleared his throat. "My question is what is Akashi's horoscope?"

"Eh? I thought a smarty-pants like you will be asking some crazy academic questions," Kise pouted and looked at Akashi. "Akashicchi's birthday is on..."

"December 20th," Haruka answered. "Princess Akashi. He's a Sagittarius."

"Oh? I told you not to ask any questions about horoscopes," Natsuki pouted and noted the score. "But I'm curious now, what is Haruka's horoscope? I wonder if they are a match made in heaven since they're so cute together. When's your birthday, Haruka?"

"December 31st."

Midorima perked up and frowned a little, pinching his chin between his thumb and index finger as he suddenly looked gloom. "That makes you a Capricorn," he said, pushing on his glasses. "Capricorn and Sagittarius are the complete opposite. It is said that you would never see eye to eye on anything," Midorima said seriously.

Everyone fell quiet and Haruka instantly glared at Midorima. "It doesn't matter," Akashi smiled. "Horoscopes are only for references only. It depends on the person whether or not they believe in it. I believe in our relationship," he said, holding Haruka's hand. "I won't rely on the stars to decide who I end up with. Haruka's my girlfriend and that's it."

The girls stared in envy while the guys raised an eyebrow, about to gag at how cheesy the speech was. "On that note, let's continue with our game," Natsuki smiled. "Next group to ask a question is Princess Akashi!"

"Please solve this equation," Haruka said, showing them an equation written on a piece of paper.

Three groups were particularly struggling as they could barely understand what the equation was about. Kaoru and Midorima, on the other hand, were busying trying to solve the equation with Midorima beating Kaoru by a second at shouting out their team name.

"Me-megane..." Midorima sighed. "X is forty and Y is thirty-two."

"Point for Megane!"

"How were we supposed to solve that?!" Aomine complained. "Come on, princess!"

"It's not my fault you're stupid," Haruka stated.

~.~

* * *

~.~

Gradually getting better at tutoring, Haruka was able to find a way to teach in her own way and allow others to understand. Ever since the tutoring sessions, the foursome who had been flunking their subjects continuously were finally able to get some decent grades. Haruka wrote a question on the board and told them to answer it.

While they were busy writing their answers down, the door to the classroom and Natsuki, wearing glasses, waltzed in. "So this is where you are~" she chirped and was smiling brightly at her juniors. "I've been looking for you three," she said, pointing at Chinatsu, Kiyoko and Haruka. "You know, it would be nice of you to tell me that you're not going to make it to the dress rehearsal the day before our showcase."

By this point, the three Teiko Angels knew that Natsuki's smile wasn't genuine at all. It was just there to hide the fact that she was angry. "We...we always had tutoring session at this time though," Chinatsu explained.

"Well if you studied properly to begin with, you wouldn't need tutoring now. Would you?" The smile dropped and Natsuki was just plainly glaring at them. "I'm sorry, Akashi-kun, but I'm going to have to borrow these three. You see, the showcase tomorrow is very important after all."

"We're almost done anyway. I'll wrap up here, Haruka."

"Good."

Natsuki kept the threatening smile on her face as she walked up to Chinatsu and Kiyoko who were glued to their chairs. She stood in between the two and grabbed their ears, pulling them onto their feet and dragged them out of the classroom by their ears. Haruka packed her things slowly and looked at Akashi who gave her a smile. "I'll see you later."

"See you later," Haruka said, picking up her books and put her bag over her shoulder. As she was walking out, she peeked at Aomine's answer and frowned. "You wrote chloroplast wrong," she pointed out.

"Don't you have to go?"

Haruka frowned and glared at Aomine. "Correct it first." Natsuki poked her head back into the classroom, frowning.

"Haruka."

"Just a second."

"Haruka."

"Not until he changes this first."

"Haruka!"


	11. And Then It All Changed

_Reviews would be appreciated~_

* * *

**It's Love, You Fool**

**GoM x OC**

**And Then It All Changed...**

**~.~**

Chinatsu sighed, turning onto her stomach and propped her head up by resting her chin on the floor. She looked up at Haruka and tugged gently on her friend's sleeve. Haruka looked at her and blinked. "Haruka...don't you think Daiki's a little different lately?" she asked, pouting a little.

This was the first time ever Haruka had seen Chinatsu so down. Chinatsu was one of those people who always smiled no matter the situation and was the most cheerful person Haruka had ever seen. "Ao? Not really..." she mumbled, looking up. "Why did you ask? Did you guys have an argument or something? Did he do something perverted again?"

"If only we were arguing..." Chinatsu sighed, closing her eyes. "Daiki doesn't even talk to me anymore lately."

"Maybe he's busy with practice," Haruka said. "But then...Satsuki also came running to me and complaining the other day..." she muttered, frowning a little. "And Ao haven't attack me with hugs lately in the morning. Hm..."

Chinatsu looked at Haruka and groaned, rubbing her head against Haruka's thigh. "Haruka~" she whined. "I miss Daiki! I want to go on dates! I even miss his perverted ways! I miss him! I miss him! I miss him!"

Haruka frowned and looked around as everyone began focusing on them. Haruka scooted away from Chinatsu who crawled as she moved, continuing to rub her head against Haruka's thigh. Haruka placed her hand on Chinatsu's head and tried to push the girl away but Chinatsu only whined louder. Haruka sighed softly and gave up eventually. "I'll talk to him."

Chinatsu perked up and her face brightened up. She grinned at Haruka and hugged her tightly, pressing her breasts against Haruka's head. "I love you, Haruka! I love you! You're the best! My future with Daiki depends on you!"

When practice ended, Haruka waited outside the auditorium. As everyone left, she kept a look out for Aomine but he was nowhere to be seen. The last person to leave was Akashi and he was surprised to see Haruka waiting since he normally picked her up at her club instead. "What are you doing here, Haruka?" he asked. "Are you waiting for me?"

"I'm waiting for Ao. Is he in there?" she asked, frowning slightly.

"Aomine didn't come to practice today," Akashi said, taking her hand. "He haven't been for quite a few days now. I thought at least you would know about it."

"Why would I know about it? I haven't seen Ao in days...not even Satsuki has talked to him."

"Maybe it's better if you talk to him. None of us seems to be getting through to him, not even Kuroko," Akashi said. Haruka frowned, wondering what caused her childhood friend to suddenly change so drastically. Akashi watched her and smiled a little. "Don't hurt your little head thinking too much about it. I'm sure Aomine will come around soon."

Haruka looked up at Akashi and nodded, smiling a little as the two made their way to the bus stop.

~.~

* * *

~.~

"Kuroko-kun?"

Kuroko turned around, looking at Haruka. They never really talked to each other before so Kuroko was rather surprised that the girl would call out to him. He was just walking to basketball practice when the blonde stopped him. "Matsuoka-san? How can I help you?" he asked. He still wasn't quite used to the fact that he wasn't invisible to Haruka at all.

"Have you seen Ao?" she asked.

"Do you mean Aomine-kun?" Kuroko's expression saddened at the mention of Aomine's name and Haruka frowned. Apart from Momoi and Haruka, Kuroko was Aomine's good friend in school and they were partners in basketball. "I'm sorry but I haven't seen him either," he said. "Aomine-kun haven't been coming to practice for a while."

Haruka sighed softly. "If you haven't seen him, nobody has..." she said. "Do you know what happened to him? Chinatsu-san is worried about him and frankly, I am too."

"Aomine-kun...bloomed."

Haruka frowned and Kuroko looked at her. They went somewhere quieter and sat down together on a bench. "Would you like to explain what you mean by Ao bloomed?"

"That's exactly what I mean. Aomine-kun's skills in basketball has always been exceptional. He was an ace even before blooming. But then one day, he got better. A lot better. Our opponents slowly lose their will to play in matches and Aomine-kun has given up too."

Haruka stared at Kuroko and blinked. "Is that bad?" she asked. "If it's true that he has bloomed, isn't that a good thing?"

"Matsuoka-san, why do you dance?"

"Because my mum told me to join a club or else I have to attend family dinners," Haruka said simply.

Kuroko blinked and nodded, looking away. "You're the opposite of Aomine-kun. Aomine-kun loves basketball and that's why he plays it. I know he doesn't hate basketball because otherwise, he wouldn't still play. He doesn't come to practice because the more he practices, the better he gets and the more he would crush his opponents' will.

"You dance because your mum asked you to. Do you like dancing? You're really good at it so you must like it even if it's only a little. I envy you. Both of you. You and Aomine-kun are both good at what you do yet neither of you really know what you're doing it for. I love basketball but I'm not good at it. If it wasn't for Akashi-kun, I wouldn't even get to play in matches.

"If you can, please tell Aomine-kun to come back to practice. I would like to play basketball with him again. I want him to bump my fist the next time I offer," Kuroko said.

Haruka looked at Kuroko and nodded, getting up. "I'll talk to Ao. Don't give up on him just yet."

Kuroko smiled and nodded. "I believe in you, Matsuoka-san."

~.~

After school, Haruka skipped Teiko Angels' practice and went in search for Aomine. She tried all the places Aomine could possibly go to and finally found him playing basketball on a street court by himself. Haruka stood by the side, watching Aomine for a while. "When are you going to hug me like always?" she asked. Aomine missed his shot and turned his head, looking at Haruka.

He rolled his eyes and picked up the basketball, dribbling a little. Haruka watched him and put her bag down, getting onto the court and suddenly started playing one-on-one with him. Aomine frowned and easily past Haruka, scoring a basket. "Don't even try, princess. You're not your father," Aomine said, dribbling and went back to his previous position. "Go home. I know why you're here. I won't go back to practice."

"Actually, whether or not you practice is none of my business," she said, folding her arms and kicked the ball out of Aomine's hand to get his attention. For the first time ever, Aomine glared at Haruka but she wasn't fazed at all. "I just thought that it's about time you talk to your girlfriend or both your childhood friends. Chinatsu-san is extremely annoying because you're ignoring her."

Aomine looked at Haruka and sighed softly. "Yeah, whatever," he said, going to pick up the basketball. "I'll call her tonight," he mumbled and looked at the blonde. He walked up to her and ruffled her hair, smiling. "Did you miss me?" Haruka slapped his hand away and glared a little. "That's my princess. I was getting a little uncomfortable with all the pep talk."

"Just...call your girlfriend so she won't whine to me," Haruka said and looked at the basketball. "And just so you know, I never want to be like my father. I hate basketball players."

"Except for Aomine Daiki and Akashi Seijuro," Aomine smirked, throwing the basketball into the basket. "You love me, don't you?"

"Yes I do, Ao. So please, be the Ao I know. Don't turn into my dad."

"You'll always be my princess," Aomine smiled, pinching her nose. "Forever and ever. I love you."

~.~

* * *

~.~

"Daiki called me!" Chinatsu grinned, twirling around in happiness. "We're going on a date this weekend~"

Kiyoko stared at Chinatsu with her mouth opened. "Isn't she a little...too happy?" she frowned. "I find her annoying normally and now she's extremely annoying. Can I punch her?"

"Let her be, Kiyoko-san," Kaoru said. "Although...she has been chanting that for like...half an hour now."

Haruka smiled a little, happy to see Chinatsu bright and cheery again. However, what she was more happy about was that Aomine kept his promise and actually started talking to Momoi and called Chinatsu. From what she knew from Kuroko though, Aomine still hadn't gone back to practice. It really wasn't Haruka's concern so she didn't talk to her friend about it.

"Oh my gosh! I just thought of the greatest idea ever! Why didn't I think of this before?!" Chinatsu gasped and ran over to Haruka, hugging her from behind and wrapped her arms around her neck. "Let's have a double date, Haruka! Daiki and I can be the sexy couple and you and red head will be the adorably cute couple!"

Haruka sighed. She was honestly starting to regret helping Chinatsu. But then she couldn't quite decide which Chinatsu was the better one; the depressed and whiny Chinatsu or the happy and clingy Chinatsu. "Sei and I don't usually go out for dates. He took me horse-riding once but that was it," Haruka said. "So no, I don't think we can have a double date."

Chinatsu pouted and tightened her hug around Haruka, rubbing her head against Haruka's. "Please, Haruka? Please? Pretty please?" she asked. "It'll be so much fun! And you're the only one I can ask this from! None of the other members have a boyfriend yet! Kaoru is still only Maiu-bo girl and I'm sure Kiyoko has multiple boyfriends. And Natsuki-senpai only likes smart guys. How many smart guys do you think there is in this school?"

"Oi!" Kiyoko shouted, throwing a shoe at Chinatsu's head. "I don't have multiple boyfriends, okay?! And just so you know, I'm single right now. Single!"

"I've never seen someone so proud to be single," Chinatsu said, looking at Kiyoko before going back to pestering Haruka. "Haruka~ Please? Just one double date! Just one!"

"I'll talk to Sei first!"

Chinatsu grinned, glad that she had successfully persuaded Haruka. As soon as practice ended, Chinatsu pushed Haruka to the basketball's auditorium, waiting outside for Akashi. As they approached the auditorium, they saw Akashi and Kuroko talking outside together. "Give up on Aomine."

"But...you were the one who told me to..."

"And that was the last chance. There is no need to waste more time on him. He's still perfectly usable as he is. Good work, Tetsuya."

"Akashi-kun..."

"Sei!"

Both boys turned around and looked at Haruka who obviously overheard their conversation. "What are you talking about?" she asked. "That wasn't something Sei would say. What happened to Ao? What happened to you?"

"Go home, Haruka," Akashi said. "This is not your business."

"Oi, red head! How dare you talk to Haruka like this? Aren't you the one who's always talking about protecting her? Well you're the one hurting her!" Chinatsu frowned, standing up for Haruka.

Akashi looked at Chinatsu, not affected by her lecture at all. "And who are you to tell me what to do and what not to do? Just because you're a girl doesn't mean I won't hurt you if you oppose me. You're just a friend of Haruka's. You have no say in our relationship."

"Who are you?" Kuroko frowned.

"I am Akashi Seijuro, of course, Tetsuya," Akashi said.

"No you're not," Haruka frowned. "What is wrong with you, Sei? Why are you acting like this?"

Akashi looked back to Haruka, narrowing his eyes on her. "I am still Akashi Seijuro no matter how I act. If you cannot handle that, then I suggest you leave. Teiko's motto is 'Ever-Victorious'. Having a girlfriend like you will only hinder me. I do not mind if this relationship continues as long as you don't get in the way. But let me say this now; if you do get in my way, I won't hesitate to get rid of you."

Haruka raised her hand and brought it down on Akashi's cheek but he easily stopped her. "You don't have to worry about me getting in your way because I won't ever be in your way," she said, hitting his hand away. "You're just like my father. I do hate all basketball players after all..."

Returning to being the chic Haruka, she turned and walked off with Chinatsu following behind her, shouting her name. As they walked off, Haruka touched her cheeks gently with her hands to feel that they were wet. It was then did she realise she was crying.

_I promise you will never get hurt_

"I hate basketball players..." Haruka whispered, hanging her head and leaned against a wall. Chinatsu frowned and placed a hand on Haruka's shoulder. "I hate them...I hate them...they never keep their promises. None of them. Not my father. Not Ao...not Sei. All of them are liars. All of them."

_From now on, I will only make you smile_


	12. How It All Started

_Reviews would be appreciated~_

* * *

**It's Love, You Fool**

**GoM x OC**

**How It All Started**

**~.~**

**12 years ago**

Haruka gripped onto the hem of her mother's dress, frowning as they walked into the kindergarten together. Her mother petted Haruka's head gently and gave her a smile before getting down to her height. "You look so cute, Haruka-chan," her mother smiled, pushing Haruka's bangs to the side and kissed her forehead. "Make sure to make lots of friends, okay?"

"But mama...I don't want to go," Haruka frowned, gripping onto her mother's hand tightly. "Let's go home and wait for papa together. Papa's coming home today! I want to see papa!"

"No," her mother said firmly. "Remember what you promised papa? You said you will be a good girl and listen to everything mama says, remember? Papa will be disappointed if he finds out that Haruka-chan isn't going to school."

Haruka immediately went quiet and let go of her mother's hand. "If I go to school, papa will be home, right?" she asked. "And papa won't be disappointed, right?" Her mother nodded and Haruka beamed. "I'll see you at home, mama! I'll give papa a big kiss and a big hug too!"

"Good girl," her mother smiled and kissed her cheek. "Remember, make lots and lots of friends."

Haruka nodded and bounced into the kindergarten, waving to her mother. As soon as her mother left, Haruka realised that she was all alone in a new environment. She gripped onto the straps of her bag and looked around as the kindergarten teacher urged her into the classroom. Her bag was taken from her and put into the shelf with bags of other children.

Haruka stared at all the other children and walked in slowly, sitting in the corner of a room. As an only child, Haruka never really had a chance to play with other children or interact with them. Her only company was her mother and this was all new to her. It was then when a loud child came walking in with a pink-haired girl following behind him.

Instantly, they caught sight of Haruka who was the only child not running around. The boy ran over to Haruka and stood in front of her with a big grin on his face. Haruka looked up and blinked, feeling a little scared. "Hi! I'm Aomine Daiki! This is my best friend, Momoi Satsuki! What's your name?"

"Ma-Matsuoka Haruka..."

"Wow! Such a princess-like name!" the boy grinned brightly. He sat down next to her and the pink-haired girl sat on the other side of Haruka. "Why are you sitting all alone? Do you not have any friends?"

Haruka shook her head and the other girl pouted a little. "That's so sad," she said before smiling at Haruka just as brightly as the boy. "We'll be your friend! Dai-chan and I will be your best friends!"

~.~

"Where's papa?"

Haruka stared at the empty house when her mother brought her home from kindergarten. She looked up at her mother who gave her a soft smile. Still a child, Haruka never really understood what that smile meant but it was one that her mother gave her a lot. "It seems like papa will have to stay abroad for a while longer," her mother said.

Haruka slipped her hand out of her mothers and frowned, gripping the straps of her bag. "But you promised papa will be home..." she whimpered, tears falling down her cheeks. "Mama's a liar! Papa's a liar too! I want papa!"

Her mother panicked and sighed softly, hugging Haruka tightly. It was the fifth time that month that Haruka had been crying for her father. There was nothing her mother could do as Hayato was a prized basketball player. Haruka was picked up into her mother's arms and taken up to her room. Her mother got the phone and dialled a number, handing the phone to Haruka.

"_Hello?_"

"Papa?" Haruka sniffed, gripping the phone. She started crying again, her sentences inaudible. "Why aren't you home, papa? I want you home!"

"_I'm sorry, princess. Papa has another important match to play. I'll be home before the weekend, I promise. But you have to promise to be a good girl, okay? No more crying. And listen to mama._"

"If...If I'm a good girl, will you come home?"

"_I will. I promise you, princess. And I have a present for you._"

"Present? I won't cry!" Haruka said, wiping her tears with the back of her hand. "I'll be a good girl, papa. I'll listen to mama. Papa! I went to kindergarten today! And I made new fr-"

"_I have to go now, princess. I love you. I'll be home soon._"

Haruka looked at her mother as her father hung up. She handed the phone to her mother who took it and smiled, petting Haruka's head gently. She wiped Haruka's tears away and kissed her forehead. "What do you want to eat today, Haruka-chan?"

~.~

* * *

~.~

Haruka ruffled her dress and stood by the door. She adjusted the tiara on her head and grinned when the doorbell rang. Her mother opened the door, welcoming Aomine and Momoi into their house. It was Haruka's birthday and her first ever birthday party. Although the only friends she had around were Aomine and Momoi, Haruka was more than excited.

She bounced into the living room, pulling her two friends with her. "Happy birthday, Haru-Haru!" Momoi smiled, handing over her present. "I like your tiara, Haru-Haru."

Haruka grinned happily, touching the tiara on her head. "Mama bought it for me! It's because I'm a princess today!"

Aomine took the tiara off her head and placed it on his head, grinning brightly. "I'm a princess too!" he laughed and Haruka frowned, trying to snatch her tiara back. Aomine avoided her and started running around the living room. "Princess Aomine~ Princess Aomine~ Haru-Haru is not a princess!"

Haruka looked like she was about to cry and Momoi grabbed Aomine roughly, snatching the tiara and handed it back to Haruka. Aomine took it from Momoi and placed the tiara on Haruka's head for her, smiling. Haruka's mother walked in with the food and set them in front of the three children. Haruka looked at her mother then suddenly remembered. "Where's papa?"

Her mother looked at her with those same sad eyes along with that familiar smile. "Papa can't make it today, Haruka-chan," her mother said, petting her daughter's head. "But he bought you a present. He said he's sorry for not being here for you but you're still his princess."

"Papa's not coming?"

Tears threatened to fall from Haruka's eyes while Aomine and Momoi sat there awkwardly. Her mother wasn't quite sure what to do as Haruka started bawling, crying for her father. This wasn't the first time Hayato wasn't there for Haruka's birthday but it's the first time since she could remember. Her mother was frantically trying to calm Haruka down, especially with Momoi threatening to cry as well.

Aomine stared at the blonde girl and bumped his fist on her head. Haruka stopped crying for a moment and looked at Aomine before crying again. "He hit me!" she cried, wiping her tears with the back of her hand. "Papa! I want papa! Ao hit me!"

"Haruka-chan, please stop crying. Princesses don't cry, remember?"

"Papa's not here! I'm not a princess!"

Suddenly, Aomine hugged Haruka tightly and kissed her cheek. "Haru-Haru's my princess!" Aomine grinned. "Haru-Haru can be my princess when your papa's not here. I will always protect my princess and love her."

"Aomine-kun..." Haruka's mother smiled a little and ruffled the boy's hair. "Is Haruka-chan really your princess? You'll protect and love her always?"

Aomine nodded enthusiastically and pulled Momoi into the hug as well. "Haru-Haru and Satsuki are both my princesses! I'll marry both of them!" he grinned. Haruka's mother laughed and smiled.

"Then I'm counting on you to take care of Haruka for me, Aomine-kun."

"Hm!"

~.~

* * *

Over the years, as Hayato missed more and more birthdays, Haruka grew distant. She stopped crying for her father because she stopped hoping that he would be there for her. Aomine, however, kept his promise and Haruka remained his princess. As they grew up together, Momoi tried to influence Haruka but the blonde stopped smiling and stopped being the girl who dreamt of being a princess.

Momoi looked at the booklet with the list of gymnasts listed in order of their performances. "Haru-Haru!" she grinned, pointing to the book. "Dai-chan, look! Haru-Haru is second," she said. "I'm so glad she continued with gymnastics. When she gave up on ballet, I thought she was going to stop being a girl altogether."

"What nonsense are you talking about? My princess _is_ a girl and always will be."

"What I meant was stop acting like a girl," Momoi said. "Haru-Haru is so different lately. She doesn't really talk to us anymore..." she sighed. "She used to tell us everything. I miss Haru-Haru."

"She'll open up to us soon," Aomine said, ruffling Momoi's hair. "She's still my princess."

When Haruka came on to do her floor routine, Aomine and Momoi clapped and cheered the loudest. When she won, it was even louder as Aomine started jumping about. They went off to greet Haruka and attack her with hugs, congratulating her. Haruka thanked them and looked down at her trophy.

_Matsuoka Haruka_

_Matsuoka_

She was really starting to hate that name.

"Isn't she Matsuoka Hayato-san's daughter? As expected from a daughter of a top basketball player. Athletic and excelling in her area of sports."

"Matsuoka Hayato's daughter? She bought her way to victory then, didn't she? I bet all the judges wanted tickets to her father's matches and this is a way of pleasing him."

Haruka glanced at the parents who were whispering about her. Aomine placed an arm around her and gave her shoulder a light squeeze to reassure her. Haruka shrugged his arm off and walked to the changing room without a word.

It was then did Aomine realised that the princess was no longer there.

The stares and whispers continued all the way to the changing room. Haruka tried her best to ignore all of them as she started changing back into her own clothes. As she stared at the trophy in her locker, Haruka couldn't help but feel tears threatening to fall. While competing, Haruka could hear Aomine and Momoi cheering for her. Her mother was sat in the audience with them but as per usual, her father was nowhere to be seen.

Haruka sniffed and wiped away the small tears as she stopped herself from crying. "I hate basketball players," she whispered to herself.

~.~

* * *

~.~

**Presently**

A hand was placed gently on Haruka's shoulder as she was shook awake. Haruka opened her eyes and standing in front of her was the air stewardess with a bright smile. Haruka sat up and looked over to her right where her parents were sat across the aisle. "We're about to land, miss. Please put your seat upright, fasten your seatbelt and turn off all electronics."

Haruka nodded, putting her seat upright and fastened her seatbelt. She let out a yawn and tugged her earphone out, turning her iPod off. Haruka rubbed her eyes and leaned her head on the seat, staring out of the window she was sat next to.

A year and a half went by and Haruka had been spending that time in America. While her father was training abroad, he took his family with him. Haruka completed her middle school studies there. For a year and a half, Haruka made no friends and kept to herself. For a year and a half, she made no contact with her old friends in Japan either.

Now they were back in Japan.

When they landed and were waiting for their luggages, Haruka had her phone out. She scrolled through her contacts and stopped at several names.

_Akashi Seijuro_

Haruka had no idea why his number was still saved in her phone. She should have deleted it long back but even then, she couldn't bring herself to delete it so she scrolled past it.

_Aomine Daiki_

For a year and a half, Haruka didn't talk to her childhood friend. From what she knew from before she left, Aomine had changed too. She hadn't spoken to him since she persuaded him to talk to Chinatsu again. Deep down inside, Haruka was afraid that if she did start talking to him again, she wouldn't be his princess anymore. She was clinging onto that hope.

_Hamasaki Chinatsu_

Chinatsu was probably the only person Haruka ever had any urge of calling when she was in America but somehow restrained herself. Haruka hated to admit it but Chinatsu was her best friend in middle school. As much as Haruka didn't like the type of person Chinatsu was, she was the only one who Haruka really got along with.

Without thinking, Haruka pressed call and placed her phone next to her ear as it rang. She was starting to think that Chinatsu had either deleted her number or changed her number, which would be a little awkward for Haruka, until someone finally picked up.

"_About time you called! Where have you been, you poo head?! What am I to you?! I thought I was your friend! Where have you been?!_"

Haruka held her phone away from her ear and frowned a little. Chinatsu had not change one bit.

"I was in America."

"_America?! What were you doing in America?! Wait, was? You're back?! Why didn't you call me earlier then?!_"

"I just landed, Chinatsu-san," Haruka sighed. "Can you please lower your volume? My head really hurts."

"_Oh...wait, am I the first person you called?_"

"Yeah."

"_Oh my gosh! I'm so happy! I'm so glad that I'm the first person you called! I'm so going to call Daiki and rub it in his face!_"

Haruka frowned a little. "Ao? You're still going out?"

"_Of course. My big boobs are keeping him around. While you were gone, Natsuki-senpai hooked up with glasses guy as well and I think they're still together._"

"Natsuki-senpai and Midorima-kun?"

"_Yeah. Natsuki-senpai's in high school now. I think glasses guy is going to the same high school as well...Shuutoku, I think it was. By the way, are you staying? Will you be going to high school here?_"

"Hm...I'm going to Seirin."

"_OH MY GOSH! I'M GOING TO SEIRIN TOO! WE CAN BE BEST FRIENDS STILL! I CAN'T WAIT TO GO TO SCHOOL NOW!"_


	13. That Blonde Girl

_Reviews would be appreciated~_

* * *

**It's Love, You Fool**

**GoM x OC**

**That Blonde Girl**

**~.~**

Haruka got off the bus and followed the flow of crowd of high school students as they all headed for the same school; Seirin. Being a rather invisible person, Haruka was being pushed about and being tiny didn't help at all. She bumped into someone accidentally and she looked up to see a very tall, muscular boy with red and black hair.

"**Sorry**."

Haruka apologised in English as it became a habit for her when she was in America. She walked around him and was suddenly attacked with a hug. A familiar bust was pressed against Haruka's back and Haruka sighed softly. "Haruka~" Chinatsu chirped, swaying around as everyone around them avoided the duo, frowning at them. "It's been so long! I missed you, Haruka~"

"Ah...I missed you too, Chinatsu-san," Haruka said, trying to make Chinatsu let go of her. "Chinatsu-san, please let go of me...people are staring."

"I don't want to. I haven't seen you in so long~" Chinatsu pouted.

As she was swaying about, they accidentally hit someone. Haruka looked to see Kuroko. "Kuroko-kun," she said. "Sorry about that." Chinatsu looked as well and screamed, jumping. "How are you not used to this yet, Chinatsu-san?"

"Because I can't see him like you can!"

"Matsuoka-san, Hamasaki-san," Kuroko nodded. "I haven't seen you in a while, Matsuoka-san."

"Ah...I was in America," Haruka said. "I thought you would be one of the other guys."

"I thought you would go to Kyoto too."

Haruka didn't need any explanation as to why Kuroko thought so. Her guess was that Akashi had chosen a high school in Kyoto and by definition, Haruka should be with him as well. "I'll see you around, Kuroko-kun," Haruka said, walking off.

~.~

Chinatsu and Haruka were in the same class, much to Haruka's disappointment. When lunch time came, Chinatsu dragged Haruka with her to buy lunch while chatting non-stop at the same time. "It turns out that Seirin is a new school so they don't have a dance club," she rattled on, looking at Haruka. "What they do have though is a cheerleading squad. Should we join?"

"You want me to cheerlead?" Haruka asked, looking at Chinatsu with expressionless eyes.

"You can do it," Chinatsu grinned, pinching Haruka's cheeks. "It's just like dancing and it's combined with gymnastics! The only hard thing is smiling," she said. "But you're really good at faking it anyway..."

They joined the line and Chinatsu attached to Haruka, hugging her from behind and wrapped her arms around Haruka's neck while pushing the shorter girl down as she went on her tiptoes, trying to see to the front of the line. A tall male, however, right in front of them was in the way. Chinatsu pouted a little, resting her chin on Haruka's head.

"Chinatsu-san, please don't do that. It hurts."

The tall male in front of them turned around when Haruka spoke. He looked down at her and Haruka recognised him as the guy she bumped into that morning. She gave him a simple nod and the guy nodded back before looking away. Chinatsu watched the two and frowned. "Do you know him?" she asked. Haruka shook her head and Chinatsu smirked. "Flirting already as soon as we're back, huh? Looks like America taught you a few things or two!"

At the mention of America, the guy in front of them twitched a little and he looked over his shoulder, staring at Haruka. Haruka was starting to feel a little uncomfortable and looked away, elbowing Chinatsu in the ribs.

"Oi! It's a good thing!" Chinatsu smirked, not letting go of Haruka. "Any guy now would be better than red head," she muttered mindlessly. Haruka looked at Chinatsu and pushed her arms off her shoulders, leaving the line. "Oh shit...Haruka!" Chinatsu shouted after her friend. "I'm sorry! I'll buy you a melon bun as an apology! Sorry! We're still going to cheerleading after school, right?!"

Indeed, after school, Haruka went to cheerleading with Chinatsu. Her promise with her mother still stood in which she had to join at least one club at school and make some new friends in order for her to stay out of family dinners. Seeing as Seirin had no dance club, her only option was to join the cheerleading squad with Chinatsu.

Being a new school, Seirin had a brand new gymnasium built for sports club and the cheerleading squad was one of them. Used to the old building that threatened to fall on them back in Teiko, both Chinatsu and Haruka were rather impressed with the school's facilities. While they were admiring the gymnasium, someone spotted and smiled brightly.

"Haruka-san! Chinatsu-san!"

Both girls looked in the same direction at the same time and Kaoru was waving at them happily. "Kaoru!" Chinatsu grinned, running up to their friend and hugged her tightly, jumping around. "I thought you wanted to go to Yosen?" Chinatsu smirked a little. "You know, follow your Maiu-bo boy."

Kaoru blushed and looked down at her feet. "Um...my parents wouldn't let me go. Yosen's in Akita..."

"Aww..." Chinatsu pouted and rubbed her head against Kaoru's. "Well, you can still visit him somehow. Daiki and I are separated too..."

"You're both in Tokyo, Chinatsu-san," Kaoru said. She then looked at Haruka and smiled. "It's good to see you again, Haruka-san. I didn't think you would come here...everyone thought you would be going to Rakuzan."

Chinatsu elbowed Kaoru a little too late and too hard. Kaoru rubbed her shoulder where Chinatsu landed her elbow and frowned at Chinatsu. Haruka looked at them before giving them a fake smile. "Who wants to go to Kyoto when all my friends are in Tokyo?" she said, dropping her smile. "Besides, what's there for me in Kyoto?"

"Listen up, first years," a tall girl said, wearing the cheerleading uniform as she stood in front of the crowd of first years. "First of all, welcome to Seirin and thank you for choosing to join the cheerleading squad. However, not everyone makes the cut. I am the captain, second year, Shigetome Ayane. Before you are considered part of the squad, we would like for you to try out.

"Try outs are simple. We will have different stations and you rotate in groups around the stations. We'll have one for gymnastics skills, one for dance skills, one for your cheer skills and finally, the stunting station. I understand that not everyone comes from cheerleading background so the stunting station is more for you to get a taste what cheerleading is. If you understand, we shall begin try outs now."

The three girls from Teiko were in the same group as they began try outs. They impressed the second years except for Haruka at the cheer station where they had to repeat a cheer the second years did and needless to say, Haruka wasn't very impression with her stoic expression.

"...Hamasaki Chinatsu, Shinomiya Kaoru and lastly, Matsuoka Haruka," Ayane read out from the list, looking up. "Those whose names are called are now part of the squad. Please go over to that corner to have your size recorded so we can order your uniform," Ayane pointed to another second year who was waiting for them. "Matsuoka-san," she called, walking up to Haruka. "You scored especially low on your cheering skills. As a cheerleading squad, we are trying to up the spirits of our fellow sports clubs so it would be nice if you could smile."

~.~

* * *

~.~

Haruka glared at Chinatsu who gave the blonde girl a sheepish smile before sticking her tongue out. When Chinatsu told her that they would be cheering for other sports club, Haruka knew that basketball would be included but what she didn't know was that the only club in Seirin that traditionally had a cheerleading squad at every match was the basketball club.

"You're a cheerleader now, Haruka," Chinatsu said, poking at Haruka's cheeks to try and make her smile. "Oh come on...Shigetome-senpai will tell you off again," Chinatsu pouted.

Haruka continued to glare at Chinatsu as they stood in the indoor court while Ayane went to talk to the basketball coach. While glaring, she spotted the same tall male she bumped into on the first day of school and frowned slightly. Right next to him was Kuroko who noticed Haruka. "This is our first year squad," Ayane smiled, introducing the squad. "They won't be cheering for you just yet but I would like to introduce you to them so they can get familiar with you."

"Nice to meet you. We're the basketball club. We'll be counting on you for cheering us on during our matches," the coach said. "I'm the coach, Aida Riko. This here is our captain, Hyuga Junpei-kun."

"Oh! Teiko Angels!"

Before they knew it, the boys were staring at the trio from Teiko. Kaoru blushed and hid behind Chinatsu as Ayane stepped in, looking at the boys with stern eyes. "Excuse me, I would prefer if you didn't fraternise with my cheerleaders," Ayane said, giving the same smile that Natsuki used to give when she was threatening the Teiko Angels.

"Teiko?" the tall male frowned, tilting his head and looked at Kuroko. "You're from Teiko, aren't you? Do you know who they are?" Kuroko nodded. "So you know who she is?" he asked, pointed to Haruka. "That blonde girl."

"Matsuoka Haruka-san," Kuroko said. "Why are you asking about her?"

"Nothing in particular."

"Could it be...she's your type, Kagami-kun?"

Kagami blushed and became flustered. "W-what?! Of course not!"

"Why do they know who we are?" Haruka asked.

Chinatsu looked at her friend and laughed nervously, not really knowing how to answer Haruka. "Er...well...after you left, we found out that Natsuki-senpai actually made a blog on the web and posted our performance videos on it. Turns out, it's pretty popular and pretty much a lot of people know who we are now," Chinatsu explained.

Haruka stared at Chinatsu and she was honestly for her life for a moment. Haruka finally looked away and Chinatsu could tell that she was probably plotting Natsuki's death in her head. "It's not too bad..." Kaoru said softly. "You weren't here for the worst part, Haruka-san. This is considered quite normal, actually."

~.~

"Remember that training is next Monday," Ayane said as she dismissed the squad. "Remember to wear your full training kit and Matsuoka-san, smile."

Haruka faked a smile for Ayane before picking up her bag and headed out of the gymnasium. Chinatsu quickly followed behind, pulling Kaoru with her. "Want to get something to eat together, Haruka? It's been a while since we were together. We need to catch up."

"But if you're tired, it's understandable," Kaoru added.

"No it's not," Chinatsu frowned, smacking Kaoru's head before grinning at Haruka. "Let's go! There's a Maji Burger nearby!"

Without much say in this, Haruka was dragged to the fast food restaurant. They stood in line to order and when they got their food, they looked around for a table. Haruka spotted someone familiar not too far away and headed over to the table near the window. "Kuroko-kun," she called out and the light blue-haired boy looked up.

"Ah, Matsuoka-san."

"You can see him?!"

Haruka looked at the same tall male she bumped into and blinked. "Matsuoka-san had always been able to see me," Kuroko said. "This is Kagami-kun, Matsuoka-san. And this is Matsuoka-san from Teiko Angels, Kagami-kun."

"Yo!" Chinatsu grinned, looking at Kagami. "Flirting with our Haruka now, are we?" she smirked.

"I came to say hi to Kuroko-kun," Haruka said.

Chinatsu blinked and looked to the other side of the table, finally spotting Kuroko. "Shit!" she shouted, nearly dropping her tray. "Damn it! Since when were you here?!"

"Since the beginning..."

"It was nice meeting you, Kagami-kun."

"N-nice to meet you too..."

Haruka nodded to the two boys before pushing Chinatsu off, heading for another empty table. Kaoru gave the boys a smile, following after her friends. Kagami looked after them and stared at Haruka. "Matsuoka-san really is your type, isn't she?" Kuroko asked.

"O-of course not!" Kagami frowned. "I'm just curious, is all... . She...looks so sad."

Kuroko looked up at Kagami with surprised eyes. Kuroko only noticed Haruka's sadness because he knew her from middle school and knew what happened. He never thought that someone like Kagami would be able to notice it.

"She is sad."


	14. When It Blooms

_Reviews would be appreciated~_

* * *

**It's Love, You Fool**

**GoM x OC**

**When It Blooms**

**~.~**

Haruka squatted by the gates to the park and gently petted the kitten's head. The kitten had been abandoned and for a few days, Haruka had been visiting it to feed it. She wanted to bring it home but was afraid that her mother wouldn't allow it. Haruka filled up the water bowl in the box and scratched the kitten behind its ear, smiling ever so slightly when the kitten purred.

Walking by then, Kagami was munching on a burger while holding his bag over his shoulder. He saw Haruka and frowned a little, recognising her blonde hair right off the bat. He walked up to her and frowned at the kitten in the box that cowered as soon as it saw Kagami. Haruka looked up and stared at Kagami. "Kagami-kun," she greeted, getting up.

"Morning," Kagami mumbled, chewing at the same time.

Haruka looked down at the kitten and gave it one last pet on the head before walking off. She plugged her earphones in and played her music, walking in front of Kagami. Kagami followed behind her and frowned a little, finishing his burger off. He tapped her shoulder gently and Haruka pulled her earphone out, looking up at him.

"You okay?" Haruka nodded. "You don't look okay. Why do you look so sad?"

Haruka looked back at Kagami and frowned. She didn't answer him as she pushed her earphone back into her ear and walked on, quickening her pace. Kagami frowned as well, keeping up easily since his legs were much longer than Haruka's. The rest of the journey to school was done in silence and Haruka headed to her own classroom as did Kagami.

~.~

"Eh?! You don't know the Teiko Angels?" Izuki gasped.

Kagami blinked and frowned, scratching his head. "Do I really need to know who they are? Plus, they were a thing like...a year ago, right? I was still in America so there was no way I would have known them."

"We need to educate you, Kagami. We have three Teiko Angels in Seirin this year," Koganei grinned. "First of all, we shall introduce you to all the members. First up is their senpai, Yagami Natsuki-san."

"Who's hopeful like the summer~" (Natsu = Summer, Ki = Hope)

"That's really unnecessary, Izuki-senpai," Kuroko commented.

"A sweet and beautiful girl, a well known DereDere among their fans," Koganei nodded. "She has stated that she likes smart guys and is now studying at Shuutoku High School. She's also a beautiful megane~ Next! Akiyama Kiyoko-san!"

"Her beauty is pure and clean like autumn!" (Kiyo = Pure, clean, Akiyama = Autumn mountain)

Kagami frowned and tilted his head. "That's pushing it a little, Izuki-senpai...don't you think?"

"A strawberry blonde whose looks will put her on the cover of a fashion magazine soon enough! Definitely a Himedere. Beautiful and fashionable, she's the idol for a lot of boys. She's occasionally the centre for the group as well. She's currently studying at Kaijo High School...what a shame. Next! Shinomiya Kaoru-san!"

"Whose beauty emits a soft fragrance of sweetness." (Kaoru = Fragrance)

"A quiet girl who emits cuteness everywhere she goes. Although she's not very good at being sexy, fans love her when they are doing a cute song. Her shy persona is her selling point and she's a Dandere! She is one of the three who's now at Seirin with light brown hair. Next! Hamasaki Chinatsu-san!"

"Chinatsu-san who's hot like the summer!" (Natsu = Summer)

Hyuga was holding in his anger, trying to tolerate Izuki's bad puns. "That's right! With the biggest bust in Teiko Angels, Chinatsu-san has been dubbed as the hottest Angel of them all! A super DereDere who's full of fan service. She has pink hair and is at Seirin! We're so lucky! Last but not least, Teiko Angels' star, Matsuoka Haruka-san!"

"Haru-Haru is beautiful like the spring!" (Haru = Spring)

"Enough!" Hyuga shouted, having enough of Izuki's puns.

"Quiet and rarely smiling outside performances, Haru-Haru is the classic Tsundere. But when she does smile on stage, flowers bloom and rainbows fill the sky. That's right, the last Teiko Angel is the blonde girl who is now at Seirin! She is also the daughter of the legendary player, Matsuoka Hayato! However, she was missing for a period of time and no one knows what happened to her."

Everyone looked at Kuroko who stared back, keeping quiet. "I don't think I'm in the place to tell you someone else's story," Kuroko said. They sighed softly and gathered in the middle of the court as Izuki took his phone out, calling Kagami over.

Izuki showed him several videos of Teiko Angels' performances. The more videos he watched, the redder Kagami's face went. Kuroko poked Kagami's cheek and stared at the tall male. Kagami pushed the phone away and turned away from the team, keeping his head down. "Kagami, are you okay?" Izuki frowned slightly. "I've never seen that reaction before."

"Matsuoka-san really is Kagami-kun's type," Kuroko commented, looking at his friend. "Kagami-kun likes the Tsundere type, I see..."

"Shut up, Kuroko!" Kagami frowned. "What does Tsundere means, anyway? And all the other dere stuff..."

"DereDere is someone who's lovely and sweet all the time to everyone. Tsundere is someone who acts harsh on the outside but is a softie on the inside. Himedere is like a Tsundere except more princess like. And finally, a Dandere is someone who's quiet generally but acts lovely and sweet when she's with the one she likes," Koganei explained.

Kagami nodded then continued to blush. "Japanese girls are cute..."

"Kagami's a dere too!" the senpais gasped. "Which dere is he though? Tsundere? Is there a dere that describes someone as acting tough and manly but is actually a softie?"

"I can hear you, senpai!"

~.~

After practice, Kagami and Kuroko headed to Maji burger together like they always did. This time, Haruka and Chinatsu were already there before them. Chinatsu grinned when she saw Kagami and went to wave at him but Haruka grabbed her hand and pulled it down before Kagami could see. "Don't be so embarrassing," Haruka stated.

Chinatsu pouted and chewed on a chip. "You're so boring," she mumbled. "So...are you interested in this Kagami guy? He's...so different to you-know-who. Is he really your type? What is your type? Apart from the red hair, they have nothing in common..."

"I'm not interested in him like that," Haruka said, frowning at Chinatsu. "And I don't have a type. As long as they're not basketball players-"

"Because you hate basketball players," Chinatsu cut in, giving Haruka a big grin. "Having said so, your very first boyfriend was a basketball player and you're flirting with another basketball player!"

"I'm not flirting."

Chinatsu smirked a little and shrugged. "Could have fooled me," she said, eating her chips and looked out of the window. "Hm...it's raining. Do you have an umbrella? If not, looks like we'll be stuck here for a while." Haruka looked out of the window as well and frowned. Before finishing her meal, she grabbed her bag and ran past Kagami and Kuroko, dashing out of the fast food restaurant. "Where are you going, Haruka?!" Chinatsu shouted after her friend. "Haruka! It's raining! Haruka!"

Kuroko and Kagami stared after the blonde girl, looking at Chinatsu. They sat down at their usual table and Kagami started with his first burger. As he took his first bite, he suddenly remembered the kitten he saw Haruka playing with in the morning. "Ah," he said, blinking, looking at Kuroko. "I have to go," he said, getting up and put the rest of the burgers in his bag.

"But it's raining, Kagami-kun." Kagami ignored Kuroko's comment and already left the restaurant. Kuroko looked over to Chinatsu who was staring after Kagami who was long gone by now.

"Since when have they became friends?"

"So you've noticed too, Hamasaki-san," Kuroko nodded, sipping his milkshake. "I think their relationship is like a budding flower. It's still growing at the moment but when it blooms, maybe we'll see Matsuoka-san smile again."

Chinatsu rest her chin in her palm, frowning. "I don't think so."

Running through the rain, it wasn't long before Kagami became soaking wet. He followed his usual route home and stopped outside the park where he saw Haruka that morning but neither Haruka nor the kitten was there. A soft purr caught Kagami's attention and he followed the sound to find Haruka leaning against a building, holding the box with the kitten in.

There was little shelter above them and Haruka had taken off her school jacket to cover the kitten. Kagami went up to her and without thinking, took his jacket off, putting it over Haruka's head. "What were you thinking? It's raining," Kagami lectured. "You're going to catch a cold."

"So will you, Kagami-kun," Haruka said, looking up. "What are you doing here?"

"To come and look for you. My apartment is nearby, you can come and wait there for the rain to stop."

Haruka nodded and Kagami led the way, letting Haruka use his jacket to keep out of the rain. They arrived at Kagami's apartment and Haruka pulled his jacket off her head, putting the kitten's box on the floor. "Do you live alone, Kagami-kun?" Haruka asked, looking around the somewhat empty apartment. "Are you sure it's okay for me to be here?"

"Ah, it's fine. My dad's in America and I have this place all to myself," Kagami said, going to get a towel for Haruka. "I'm guessing you don't have any change of clothes on you so would you like a t-shirt or something?"

"T-shirt will be fine..." Haruka said, taking the towel and started drying her hair before sitting on the floor, drying the kitten. "It's okay now," Haruka whispered, petting the kitten's head.

"You can stay here until the rain stops. You can use my phone to call home."

"There's no need."

Kagami frowned, looking at Haruka. "Is there a particular reason why you shut the world out?" Kagami asked. "Won't your parents be worried? Call them and let them know you'll be late home."

"My father won't be home and my mother is used to this," Haruka said. "There's no need to call home."

"Are you not close with your family?"

Haruka looked over her shoulder and looked at Kagami. Somehow, she felt like she could pour everything out to Kagami without a worry in the world. "Do you not know who my father is?"

"Koganei-senpai mentioned something but I don't really remember..."

"Matsuoka Hayato. If you've been in Japan, you would know who he is. A famous basketball player whom the country treasures. But as a father, he failed many years back. I don't remember the last time I sat down and properly had a meal with him or really talked as father and daughter. My mother has been asking me to understand my father's position since I was a child.

"I don't understand and I never will. I don't understand what could possibly be more important that his six-year-old daughter being hospitalised because of a fever. I don't understand how I'm supposed to trust him after he's broken promises after promises. I don't understand how that's being a father."

"There's something more, isn't there?" Kagami asked. Haruka looked at him with a frown. "The reason why you always look so sad. It can't just be because your father was never there."

Haruka stared at Kagami with surprised eyes. He was possibly the first person ever to see through her so quickly and accurately. Aomine was always ignorant and could never see anything unless it was plain obvious while Momoi's cheerful personality often made her overlook things. That or she's just pretending not to notice. As for Chinatsu...

Haruka took in a deep breath and hugged her knees, stroking the kitten's head gently. "I hate basketball players, Kagami-kun...I really do. But...my life somehow revolves around basketball players. Basketball players who have done nothing but break promises and my heart."

With that in mind, Kagami decided not to ask anymore and looked out of his window. "Looks like the rain won't be stopping any time soon," he said. "You sure you don't need to call home?"

"I'm sure." Haruka looked down at the kitten and picked it out of the box, holding it in her arms. "Kagami-kun...is it okay if I stay the night? I'll sleep on the sofa, it's fine," she said. "I just...I don't want to go home. Not now."

"Hm," Kagami replied. "If you need anything, give me a shout."

"Thank you, Kagami-kun."

"By the way, you have a very princess-like name. Matsuoka Haruka," Kagami said. "Just thought I'd tell you that." Haruka couldn't help but smile softly, making Kagami blush since it was his first time seeing her genuine smile. "D-did I say something I'm not supposed to?" he asked.

Haruka shook her head, the smile still lingering around. "Just...someone from a long time ago said the same thing."


	15. Angels Unite

_Reviews would be appreciated~_

* * *

**It's Love, You Fool**

**GoM x OC**

**Angels Unite**

**~.~**

Haruka scrolled through the blog Natsuki had created for Teiko Angels. Although she wasn't happy with the idea of the blog, she was really impressed with Natsuki's skills. The blog itself was simple with a pretty background. Once you entered the blog, white feathers floated from the top of the screen to the bottom, referring to 'Angels'. There was a link to a page for each member of Teiko Angels filled with their profile.

Haruka clicked on her own name and it brought her to her profile page:

_Haru-Haru_

_December 31_

_155cm_

_Tsundere_

_Centre for Teiko Angels_

_Likes the colour red_

_Single_

Haruka stared at the last word. _Single_. She stared at the word for a good five minutes before clicking another link that brought her to the videos page. While she was waiting for the video to load, her phone buzzed. She looked at her phone, seeing a message and frowned a little.

_Hello, fellow Angels~_

_This is your beloved Natsuki-senpai! As you know, our blog is getting more and more popular. I would like to meet up with you and discuss the future of Teiko Angels. This Saturday, please meet me at this café~ I will be expecting all of you there, no exceptions (and that means you, Haruka. I know you're back in Japan so you better show up). See you~_

Haruka sighed softly, throwing her phone onto her bed. And here she thought she would have a peaceful and quiet weekend.

~.~

* * *

~.~

Having never been to the café which apparently was Teiko Angels' regular meeting place after she left, it took Haruka quite a while to get to the meeting location. When she finally arrived, she was the last Angel.

As soon as she walked in, she was offered a table but Haruka pointed to the table where the other Angels were. She made her way over and sat down, looking at the other Angels. "Natsuki-senpai," she nodded and looked at Kiyoko. "Kiyoko."

"Well, even Haruka's here now, good~" Natsuki smiled, handing out the menus and looked through her own. "We have very important things to discuss today, Angels. But first, let's get something to eat and drink."

Haruka was starting to feel a little awkward around them since she hadn't seen them in so long. She had missed out on so many Teiko Angels' activities and only caught up by visiting the blog that she didn't even knew existed in the first place. From what she had read and seen on the blog, Teiko Angels did quite well in her absence. She wasn't even sure she was at the meeting.

After they ordered, Natsuki looked at Haruka and suddenly grabbed her by the neck, rubbing her knuckles against Haruka's temples. "How dare you just up and go?!" Natsuki hissed while Haruka struggled in pain to no avail. "Do you know how much trouble you gave us?! Geez...it's just a heartbreak, get over it," Natsuki said, finally letting go of Haruka. "Teiko Angels struggled for a while without you."

"Not for long though because we have me," Kiyoko smiled, giving Haruka a look. "I became the centre after you left."

"Yeah, I saw from the blog," Haruka said. "And I must admit, you really needed me."

Kiyoko glared instantly and Natsuki grabbed Haruka again, rubbing her knuckles against the blonde's temples once more. "How dare you say that so arrogantly?!" she frowned. "I should really punish you for leaving us so suddenly. I know, as punishment, you will continue to be our centre. Which brings me to why we're here today. Obviously, we're no longer in Teiko. It'll be awkward to keep calling ourselves Teiko Angels."

"Wait...we're continuing this?" Haruka frowned. "I thought this was just some club in middle school."

"Well this club in middle school is now a nation-wide phenomenon," Natsuki said, flicking Haruka's forehead. "We're not really an idol group but we're a big thing on the internet," she explained. "Which is why we need to change our name if we are to continue this."

"How about...Tokyo Angels?" Chinatsu suggested.

The waitress came back with their food and drinks, laying them out on the table before leaving the girls to their meeting. Kiyoko looked at Chinatsu and raised an eyebrow. "I see where you're coming from but Kaijo is not in Tokyo," she pointed out. "Perhaps you would like to study up on your geography before you make any suggestions."

Chinatsu glared. "Still the bitch, Kiyoko, I see..."

"How about just Angels then?" Kaoru asked. "Since not all of us are in Tokyo, we could just be the Angels. You can also interpret it as we're everyone's angels, not just the angels of Tokyo."

"This is why I love you, Kaoru," Natsuki grinned, hugging Kaoru tightly. "We will be the Angels then. I'll change it on the blog tonight. The next thing we're going to discuss is how we're getting together to maintain this group," Natsuki said, giving Haruka, who opened her mouth to say something, a look. "I just answered your question, didn't I?"

Haruka closed her mouth and took a sip from her hot chocolate, keeping quiet. "Well, obviously we won't be meeting up regularly to practice since we go to different schools and Haruka, Kaoru and I are on the cheer squad," Chinatsu said. "The weekend? We should meet every other weekend?"

"You're on the cheer squad?" Kiyoko asked but the question was mostly directed at Haruka who glared back. "Wow...I can feel the cheerfulness already."

"This must be fate because Kiyoko and I joined our school's cheer squads too!" Natsuki squealed. "And I love the idea of meeting every other weekend. As per usual, Chinatsu and I will be coming up with the choreography and the rest of you will just...practice and look pretty. Haruka, practice on your smiling. Any suggestions of songs would be greatly appreciated."

Haruka took her phone out and clicked through it, putting the device in the middle of the table and played a song. "It's called Sun and Sunflower by Flowers," Haruka said. "I've been polishing a little on my Jpop. It's different to the normal happy, jumpy songs that we do. It'll be a good contrast seeing as we're in high school now."

Chinatsu grinned and hugged Haruka suddenly. "Aww...my Haruka is learning," she smiled. "Soon you'll be choreographing with us."

"Um..." Kaoru said, raising her hand. Everyone looked at her and the timid girl quickly put her hand down. "Even though we know when we're meeting, where exactly are we meeting?" she asked. "We need a place to practice, don't we?"

Natsuki frowned a little and made a face. "Hm...that is a very good point," she mumbled, looking down. "It'll be expensive to rent a practice room somewhere seeing as we don't get paid for this. Maybe we could go to someone's house? I would like to offer mine but our house is small and I have three other siblings along with my parents."

"Not my house. My dad doesn't like guests," Kiyoko stated.

"I would offer too but I live with my aunt," Chinatsu sighed. "We could go there once in a while but to make it regular..."

"Sorry but we live in an apartment. It won't be big enough."

Everyone looked at Haruka who stared back. "We're not going to my house," she said bluntly. Natsuki and Kiyoko were glaring a bit while Chinatsu looked disappointed. "But I know someone who might not mind us borrowing his place every other weekend. It's not a guarantee though."

~.~

* * *

~.~

The group of girls followed after Haruka as they took the elevator. When they arrived at the floor, Haruka went up to an apartment and pressed the doorbell, waiting for the owner to answer. When the door opened, Kagami was standing in front of them with an apron on and a spatula in his hand. His face went slightly red at the sight of so many girls who stared right back.

"So that someone you mentioned is him?" Chinatsu asked. Haruka nodded in reply.

"Who is he?" Natsuki questioned, leaning close to Chinatsu.

"Haruka's new boyfriend."

"He's not my boyfriend," Haruka stated bluntly.

Kagami's face went bright red at the mention of boyfriend. He cleared his throat to get their attention and looked at them, trying to calm himself down. "May I help you?"

"Oh...didn't Haruka tell you?" Chinatsu blinked.

Kagami shook his head and everyone looked at Haruka. She shook her head. Natsuki made her way to the front and grinned at Kagami. "So, hi, I'm Yagami Natsuki, a second year at Shuutoku High and we are the Angels. You may know us as the Teiko Angels but we changed our name," she explained. "However, that's not the point. The point is, we've been told that you can lend us your place as our practice place every other weekend."

"Huh?"

"Thank you!" Natsuki chirped, making her way into Kagami's apartment. The others followed after her and Kagami stared after them, dumbfounded. Haruka stood by the door still and looked at Kagami who was clearly looking for an explanation.

"The other option was my house," Haruka stated as if that made coming to Kagami's place a legit reason. "Plus, this is the Angels' practice. Kagami-kun will get first glimpse of what our next performance will look like."

Chinatsu snaked her arm around Haruka's shoulders and grinned at Kagami. "Ah, so the tiger is our fan? As expected from Haruka's new boyfriend!" Haruka shrugged Chinatsu's arm off and glared at her. "Okay! Got it, not your boyfriend," she said, pretending to zip her lips up before smiling brightly. "But thanks, tiger, for lending us your place."

"Sorry about this, Kagami-kun," Haruka said.

"It's okay...as long as you guys don't tell my senpais from basketball about this. They're crazy about you and if they knew, they would want to come and visit all the time and that'll be troublesome," Kagami mumbled, letting out a sight. He couldn't believe he was actually agreeing to this. "I'm having lunch now and I'm going to play some basketball by myself. Haruka's in charge of the place when I'm gone. Just...don't destroy the place and don't disturb the neighbours."

"Yes sir!"

A few hours on the court had Kagami sweating and working up an appetite. He checked the time on his phone and looked in the direction of his apartment, wondering if the girls had gone home. Picking up his basketball, Kagami started jogging home while dribbling the basketball by his side.

As soon as he got home, he was greeted by smoke coming from his kitchen. It was a miracle the fire alarm wasn't set off. Kagami rushed into the kitchen and pushed whoever it was at the stove away, grabbing the pan and removed it from the stove. Whatever food was being cooked had now turned into charcoal. Chinatsu stared at Kagami with watery eyes and a pout.

"I don't even know what happened..." she said and suddenly started crying. "I'm so sorry, Kagami-kun! Your apartment nearly burnt down because of me! I'm sorry!"

Natsuki came into the kitchen to drag Chinatsu away and apologise to Kagami at the same time. With the wailing Chinatsu swept off, Kagami sighed heavily and looked around the kitchen. Apart from the heavy smoke, nothing was wrong with the kitchen. He went to open the windows, letting the smoke out and watched the girls sitting in a circle in the middle of his living room.

"Sorry, Kagami-kun, it got late and we got hungry. Chinatsu said she found a recipe online and wanted to make us dinner. We didn't know this was going to happen," Natsuki explained. "Although, it's kinda expected since it's Chinatsu."

"It's fine...the apartment's not burnt and the fire alarm wasn't set off," Kagami sighed. "I'll make you dinner if you're still hungry."

"Oh really?!" Chinatsu gasped, suddenly brightening up. "Thank you so much, tiger!"

Kagami raised an eyebrow and was starting to think that he was being set up to this. While he was cooking, Haruka came into the kitchen and watched him. Kagami looked up from cutting ingredients, giving her an acknowledgement nod. "Sorry for nearly burning your house down. Is there anything I can do to help?" she asked.

"Do you know how to cook?"

"I know how to make tofu soup."

"Tofu soup? That's really random...I think I might have some tofu in the fridge."

Haruka opened the fridge and rummaged around until she found the tofu. She looked around for other ingredients before standing beside Kagami. "Someone I knew a few years back really like tofu soup," she said. She started cutting up the tofu while Kagami cut the vegetables for her.

"Your boyfriend?" Haruka froze but then ignored his comment and continued with her preparation for the tofu soup. "If a girl knows how to make a specific dish because someone she knows like it a lot, isn't it because that someone is her boyfriend?"

"He's not my boyfriend. Not anymore."


	16. Golden Retriever

_Reviews would be appreciated~_

* * *

**It's Love, You Fool**

**GoM x OC**

**Golden Retriever**

**~.~**

After catching wind of Seirin having a practice match with Kaijo, Ayane took the chance and arranged for the cheer squad to have a joint practice with their cheer squad. The first years were sent along with the basketball team and they were to meet up with the cheer squad in Kaijo. As soon as they arrived, Haruka could sense Kiyoko's attitude while Kaijo's cheer squad was waiting to welcome them.

Kiyoko smirked a little with her arms crossed as she walked up to Haruka. "You look fantastic in your uniform. I can feel so much cheerfulness from you," she said sarcastically. Haruka looked at Kiyoko and give her the look-over.

"You look really amazing in your uniform. Not. Blue is really not your colour," Haruka stated, following after her squad.

Kiyoko frowned and glared after Haruka. These two weren't going to get along overnight and the journey to their friendship was going to be long and hard though it was still a myth whether or not they could be friends.

The joint practice went rather smoothly with both cheer squads exchanging moves and having a little cheer off. Half way through their practice, a Kaijo cheerleader came running in, asking for them to go over to the basketball team's indoor court. Both squads migrated together and they arrived in the gym just as they were preparing to use the full court.

"One of Seirin's players broke our hoop," someone from Kaijo said.

True to his words, in the far end of the court on the side, a hoop was missing and it looked like someone ripped it out. The basketball players were standing around as they waited for the court to get ready when Haruka caught sight of Kagami. He made eye contact with her and smirked a little, pointing over to the broken hoop before pointing at himself.

"Kagami-kun..." Haruka said softly before letting out a smile, giving him a thumbs-up.

Kise noticed Kagami communicating with someone and followed the line of his sight until he saw Haruka. He gasped loudly and started waving frantically at Haruka. "Haru-hime-cchi!" he shouted, waving both arms in the air with a big grin. "Uwah! I didn't think I would see you here! Are you here to support me? It's been so long! We really need to ca-"

Kasamatsu kicked Kise in the back and glared a little. "Concentrate, Kise! We have a match going on here. Albeit, a practice match but still..."

"But it's Haru-hime-cchi!" Kise pouted, pointing to Haruka. "You know, Haru-Haru from Teiko Angels! We went to the same school!"

"I don't care!" Kasamatsu shouted, kicking Kise again.

Haruka had seen many basketball matches that her father played in but she hadn't seen basketball played like so. Kagami had raw talent for the sport but even Kise shocked Haruka with his skills. Even though she had never watched the Generation of Miracles play in a match before, she had heard of their skills and Haruka expected Kaijo to win this practice match.

So when Kagami beat Kise with a buzzer beater, even Haruka was shocked.

As the match ended, the two cheer squads returned to their joint practice. Once that ended as well, Haruka was the first to leave and waited outside the gym for the rest of the squad. While waiting, Kise came out from the gym with a towel around his neck. He spotted Haruka and grinned, going up to her. "Haru-hime-cchi~" he greeted.

"Ah, Kise-kun..."

"Hm? Haru-hime-cchi is mean...After so long, all I get is a 'Ah, Kise-kun'? Shouldn't I at least get a kiss?" Kise teased. He pursed his lips and leaned in close to Haruka. Instead of kissing Haruka's cheek, his lips came in contact with a bag. Kise opened his eyes and blinked, looking to see Kagami holding his bag in front of Haruka to stop Kise's kiss. "Ew! Do you know where your bag has been, Kagamicchi?!"

"Kagamicchi?" Kagami frowned.

Haruka silently thanked Kagami and was relieved on Kise's behalf because if Kise really had kissed her, she would have unleashed some crazy gymnastics moves on him. "Kise-kun adds -cchi to the name of people he admires," Haruka explained to Kagami. "Though...I never understood what's there to admire about me."

"Because Haru-hime-cchi is so clever!" Kise said.

"He reminds me of a puppy..." Kagami said, looking at Haruka. "He's like a little Golden Retriever who's happy that his owner's finally home."

Haruka looked up at Kagami, blinking for a while before looking up to Kise. She saw the resemblance between Kise and a Golden Retriever, letting out a little giggle. Kise's face suddenly became serious when he heard Haruka giggle and looked at Kagami. "I only know of one other person who can make Haru-hime-cchi giggle," he said. "And he won't be happy to know that someone else apart from him can make her happy."

"Well then perhaps he shouldn't have left her," Kagami said. "We're going now, Haruka. Wanna go to Maji Burger with me?"

"Have you replaced him, Haru-hime-cchi?" Kise asked, looking at the blonde girl. "He won't be happy to know that he's been replaced with an idiot like that," he said, looking at Kagami.

"Who I get with has nothing to do with him," Haruka stated. "Tell him that my life is perfect without him. Kagami-kun, let's go. Maji Burger is really calling out to me right now."

~.~

* * *

~.~

"Hayama, get back to practice," Reo called out, looking over to the orange-haired guy who was holding onto his phone, his eyes glued to the screen. "Hayama, are you listening to me? If Sei-chan finds yo-"

"Kotaro."

The orange-haired male froze and hid his phone, getting up from the floor and grinned. "I'm going back to practice right now!" he said but couldn't help but look to his phone. The red-haired captain frowned a little, folding his arms. "Oh come on, Akashi! It's Teiko Angels!" he whined and Akashi frowned even more at the mention of the group from his old school. "Well, they're called Angels now but...It's Haru-Haru!" Hayama gasped, going back to his phone.

Akashi's eyes widened for a moment when he heard the familiar name. Reo was the only one who noticed and he stared at Akashi who went up to Hayama, taking his phone.

On the screen was Angels' newest video on their blog. Titled 'Sun and Sunflower', Haruka was once again the centre while they were showing off their own choreography. Akashi stared at the screen, watching the entire video without a word, his eyes never leaving a certain blonde. Hayama stared at Akashi, peeking at his phone. "Er...Akashi?"

Snapping back to reality, Akashi pushed Hayama's phone back to him. "I do not mind what you do in your free time, Kotaro, but we have the Interhigh coming up. If you do badly in our matches because you're distracted by some girls dancing during practice, I won't forgive you."

"I won't do badly!" Hayama smirked. "Plus, the Angels was originally the Teiko Angels, right? That means they went to the same school as you did. Did you know them, Akashi?"

"I know of them," Akashi stated. "I fail to see how this has anything to do with Rakuzan or our team, Kotaro."

Nothing else was said about the matter as Hayama knew better than to challenge Akashi. After club activities though, while making his way home, Akashi took his phone out and went onto the blog. Like Hayama said, the group had changed their name to Angels and on the welcome page, Akashi couldn't help but feel look at the blonde girl right in the middle of the picture.

He went on her profile page and read through it:

_Haru-Haru, born on December 31, is the centre for Angels. A classic Tsundere, she's 155cm tall and likes the colour red. Currently attending Seirin, Haru-Haru is single~ Are you Haru-Haru's fan?_

The rest of the page was filled with pictures of Haruka and Akashi snapped his phone shut after scrolling through several of the pictures. It was odd seeing Haruka back again. In their second year of middle school, after Akashi said those things to her, Haruka just disappeared. No one knew where she went to, neither did Akashi wanted to know.

Now that she was back though, Akashi wasn't sure how he felt. Once, Haruka was an important person in his life but since the second year of middle school, he couldn't care less for a girl so dependent on him. But then seeing how Haruka got on with her life and was somehow happy irked Akashi. How could she be happy without him?

Then, his phone buzzed as a message came through.

**From: Ryouta**

**To: Akashi Seijuro**

**Subject: Guess who I saw today?**

_Akashicchi~ You would never believe who I met today~ Haru-hime-cchi is back!_

**From: Akashicchi**

**To: Kise Ryouta**

_And that affects me how?_

**From: Ryouta**

**To: Akashi Seijuro**

_Eh? I thought Akashicchi would want to know more about Haru-hime-cchi... Well, she seems happy. Looks like she's found herself a new boyfriend._

**From Akashicchi**

**To: Kise Ryouta**

_New boyfriend?_

**From: Ryouta**

**To: Akashi Seijuro**

_Oh? Now you're interested. And yes, new boyfriend. Someone tall and big. He's a basketball player._

**From: Akashicchi**

**To: Kise Ryouta**

_Enough of your nonsense, Ryouta. Haruka hates basketball players._

**From: Ryouta**

**To: Akashi Seijuro**

_This one made her giggle. She smiles when she's with him._

Akashi frowned. She smiled when she was with him? Not even her childhood friend Aomine was able to make her smile. Haruka only ever smiled when she was with Akashi.

This sparked the competitive instinct in Akashi. He was absolute and he always won. No matter what. He wasn't interested in having a relationship with Haruka. No. He was only interested in being the only one she cared about and the only one she would smile for.


	17. Still The Princess

_Reviews would be appreciated~_

* * *

**It's Love, You Fool**

**GoM x OC**

**Still The Princess**

**~.~**

The weekend was usually Haruka's paradise. No one would bother her and she would have no work to do. However, every other weekend, she had to get out of bed early and head for Kagami's apartment. Haruka stared up at her ceiling and let out a long, deep sigh, gripping her sheets tightly. She sat up and went to get herself ready for the day that was starting out way too early.

As she was choosing what to wear, Haruka suddenly found herself being conscious about her clothes. Since when did she cared what she wore? With that thought in mind, she opted for a t-shirt and shorts. A towel was shoved into her bag as she grabbed her iPod and plugged the earphones in. With everything ready, she headed downstairs.

Although used to Haruka's activity every other weekend now, her mother was still rather surprised that Haruka actually took it seriously and would wake early every weekend to go for Angels' practice. Hayato was sat at the dining table, eating breakfast made by his wife, but Haruka didn't spare him a single look. Without a word, she headed out, closing the door behind her.

Hayato looked up from his breakfast and frowned a little, looking to his wife. "Where is she going?" he asked.

"Haven't you been paying attention, darling? I've been telling you about Haruka," his wife stated. "Remember the club she was in when she was in middle school? They changed their name and they're still dancing," she explained. "Haruka goes every other weekend for practices."

"I thought she's going on a date?"

His wife looked at him with a frown and sighed softly. "She doesn't have a boyfriend anymore. Why do you think she was willing to come to America with us?" she said softly. "That's why she's back to being...Haruka. I haven't seen her smile since before we went to America."

"Has she ever smiled?"

"Not in front of you," she said, looking at Hayato. "She hasn't smiled in front of you since she was six. Actually, she hasn't talked to you since she was six."

"And your point is?"

"Hayato, Haruka used to be your princess. I get that your career is important but surely your daughter is important too."

~.~

Haruka pressed the doorbell, waiting for Kagami to open the door. As usual, she was the earliest and Kagami greeted her with an apron on. Each of the Angels made their own way to Kagami's apartment but Haruka was always a good half an hour early since she lived the closest. She gave Kagami a nod and walked in.

Putting her bag down, Haruka stretched her arms as she walked up to the little furniture Kagami had and started pushing them up against the wall. Kagami watched as Haruka pushed the sofa, struggling a little. She slipped and fell forward but Kagami caught her just in time. "Oops," Kagami said softly, holding her around the waist and helped her stand up. "Let me do it."

Haruka stood by the side and watched as Kagami pushed the furnitures against the wall effortlessly. When he was done, he walked past Haruka and ruffled her hair, heading into the kitchen. Haruka touched her hair gently and blinked, staring after Kagami. "Thank you, Kagami-kun."

"A princess should always have a knight to help her, right?" Kagami smiled at her. "You're so princess-like that I can't let you get hurt. If you were Chinatsu though..."

Haruka giggled, giving Kagami a soft smile. "If Chinatsu-san heard you, she would hit you," she pointed out and walked up to the counter, watching as he cooked. "Are you making food for us? I'm sorry we're always bothering you like this," she said softly. "If we could find another place, we would. And Chinatsu-san almost burnt your place down several times..."

"Why do you think I like her the less?" Kagami joked. "And it's really no hassle to cook at all. I have to make my own food too and instead of having Chinatsu burn my place down, I rather cook for you too. It's a lot easier. Oh, and you like the octopus sausages, right?" Haruka nodded as Kagami was cutting up the sausages so they would look like octopuses.

When the doorbell rang, Haruka went to open the door and the other girls arrived at once. Chinatsu and Kagami met eye to eye but they glared at each other before looking away.

Practice commenced as usual but instead of going off to play basketball, Kagami stayed this time. Natsuki made him watch them do their new dance and give some honest opinions about their performance. Honest meaning he had to say things Natsuki wanted to hear. But Kagami being Kagami, he spoke bluntly without giving it much thought.

"The beginning is too messy. And when you get to the chorus, isn't it a little too hard for you? You were bumping into each other trying to get to places," he said, staring at them. "Ah, Haruka needs to smile more. This is a happy song, isn't it? She looks like someone killed her dog. Kiyoko needs to dial it down a little. She's not the centre but acts like she is.

"Kaoru needs to have more confidence. Half the time, her head is down and I can't see her at all. Natsuki needs to stop glaring at Haruka. Honestly, no matter how many times you glare, she's not going to smile. And Chinatsu...there's just something wrong with her but I don't know what."

"Let me hit this punk..." Chinatsu muttered through gritted teeth, cracking her knuckles.

Natsuki held Chinatsu back even though she was also quite pissed at what Kagami contributed. "Trust me, I want to hit him too..." Natsuki sighed. "I guess that's it for today. We'll work on Kagami-kun's suggestion next time. Time to go home."

"Oh, Haruka," Chinatsu smiled. "Daiki and I are going on a date. Wanna tag along?"

"You want me to tag along on your date?"

"Oh come on, it's even really a date. Plus, I bet Daiki really misses you," Chinatsu grinned, grabbing Haruka by her arm. "Bye, Kagami-kun, see you in school!" Chinatsu said, waving Haruka's hand for her before the two disappeared.

Reluctantly, Haruka was dragged onto Chinatsu's date with Aomine. Honestly, Haruka wanted to see Aomine. He was her childhood friend after all. But seeing as everyone from Teiko Basketball Club had changed, she couldn't imagine how Aomine had changed. In addition, they hadn't talked for a long time. Aomine probably won't regard her as a friend anymore.

As they waited, Haruka was starting to get a little impatient and went on her phone instead. She didn't remember Aomine as being such a tardy person and looked at Chinatsu who looked accustomed to waiting. Haruka looked around and let out a soft sigh before looking back to her phone. "Huh? What the hell is this?"

Haruka looked up and saw Aomine who was wearing a black sleeveless shirt with shorts. He didn't look pleased at all and glared a little at Haruka. Chinatsu, on the other hand, seemed oblivious to Aomine's attitude as she got up with a big smile, hugging his arm tightly. Haruka stared at Aomine and frowned. The Aomine she knew wasn't there anymore. This was an entirely different person.

"Daiki~" Chinatsu chirped, hugging him. Aomine showed an irritated look but let it slide since Chinatsu's bust was rubbing against his arm. "I'm sorry but I have some family business to deal with today but I don't want to cancel the date on you so I've asked Haruka to come and take care of you," she smiled. This was all new to Haruka. She was only told to tag along on the date.

"I don't need taking care of. It would have been better if you cancelled," Aomine stated, pulling his arm away and glared at Haruka. "And I don't need to be taken cared of by her especially."

"Oh come on, Daiki!" Chinatsu pouted. "You haven't seen Haruka in so long, right? This is your chance to catch up with her! You always talked about how much you've missed her so why are you acting like this right now? Behave and be nice, okay? I'll give you a nice surprise if Haruka says you've done well," she smiled, kissing Aomine on the lips. "Love you, Daiki~"

With the goodbye, Chinatsu left the two childhood friends alone. Haruka stared at Aomine and let out a soft sigh. He had grown since she last saw him but Haruka had always been shorter than him anyway. Having nothing to say, Haruka snapped her phone shut and gripped her bag. "You can go if you want. I won't tell Chinatsu-san so you can still get whatever surprise she promised you."

Aomine sighed and pushed his hands into his pockets, looking at Haruka with uninterested eyes. He stared at her for a long while without saying a word then suddenly reached out and grabbed her hair gently. "You still look the same. Have you grown at all?" Haruka smacked his hand away, giving him a look. "You're still the princess."

Haruka stared at him with wide eyes. Coming from Aomine, it meant a lot to her. It was different with Chinatsu when the pink-haired girl commented on how Haruka never changed but coming from her childhood friend, it meant the world. Haruka felt like she was about to cry and Aomine frowned, flicking her forehead.

"Oi, don't cry on me. If Chinatsu found out about this, she would never have sex with me."

"You never had sex with Chinatsu-san?" Haruka raised an eyebrow. "Actually, I don't want to know..." she mumbled. Her phone buzzed and Haruka checked her message. She smiled a little, replying to whoever it was which intrigued Aomine.

"The princess who didn't even smile after meeting her childhood friend whom she had never seen for so long is smiling after receiving a message?" Aomine asked. "Who is this person? Akashi?"

Haruka pressed send and glared at the mention of the red head's name. "No, it's not him," Haruka said. "I haven't seen or talked to him since middle school," she stated. "It's Kagami-kun. He's from school."

"Kagami? Sounds like an idiot's name," Aomine rolled his eyes. "Is he a red head like Akashi? Is he your new boyfriend then?"

"Will you stop saying he's my boyfriend? Gosh," Haruka mumbled, getting irritated. "A girl can be friends with a guy without actually being interested in him," she stated. "Kagami-kun is just a friend. He's like you, Ao. Just a friend."

"No one can be like me because the only one who can beat me is me," Aomine said. "And I hardly think this guy is just a friend if he can make the ice princess smile." Haruka looked at Aomine and suddenly hugged him. Aomine frowned and tried pushing the girl off him. "Oi! I'm taken, princess! Stop hugging me! People are watching! Wait...have your boobs grown?"

Haruka pulled away immediately and hit Aomine in the arm. "Is that all you care about?!" she frowned. "And here I was, getting emotional because you're calling me princess still..." she mumbled and glared. "I was wrong. You're just a huge pervert."

"Huh? Getting emotional because I called you princess still? What are you talking about? You'll always be my princess," he said, giving her a hug and petted her head gently. "You know, I was pretty damn upset when you just left. You didn't even tell me that you got back. Am I still your friend?"

"Of course you are, Ao," Haruka whispered.

"Ah...I'm not good with mushy stuff..." Aomine sighed. "Can we go now? It's awkward just standing here."


	18. Teach Me Please

_Reviews would be appreciated~_

* * *

**It's Love, You Fool**

**GoM x OC**

**Teach Me Please**

**~.~**

Ayane stared at Haruka before shaking her head, hiding her face in her palm and let out a long sigh. The entire country probably knew the relationship between Hayato and Haruka but not everyone knew that Haruka didn't have a good relationship with her father. And so, they would usually be surprised when Haruka would tell them that she knew nothing about basketball.

Ayane, however, was having a harder time to digest the information. The cheerleaders had to cheer the basketball team and they would have to make appropriate responses during the matches so if Haruka didn't know what game or the rules, it would be hard for her to know what cheer to use when. Ayane took in a deep breath before finally looking at Haruka.

"Okay...homework for you then, Matsuoka Haruka, is to study up on basketball. I don't care what you do, ask your father, ask your friends. I will be testing you the day before the match and if you can't get it right, you're not cheering," Ayane said. "Understood?"

"I'd rather not cheer any-" Chinatsu jabbed her elbow into Haruka's ribs and Haruka shot a look at her. "Fine."

"Okay then, we will finish up practice for today," Ayane said. "Remember to work on the corrections I told you and practice in your free time. I will see you next practice."

"Haruka! I can teach you abo-"

"No thank you."

Haruka ignored Chinatsu and went to pick up her bag, putting it on her shoulder and headed out. Haruka had no intentions to really learn about basketball. If she was to be taken out of the cheer squad during the match, let it be. "Haruka~" Chinatsu sighed, going after her friend. "Oi! Let's go to Maji Burger."

Having already turned down Chinatsu for teaching her basketball, Haruka felt obliged to go to Maji Burger with her. And so to Maji Burger they went. It was starting to become a regular place for them to visit and occasionally, they would meet Kuroko and Kagami there as well. Just like today. With their meals, the girls were looking for an empty table when Kuroko spotted them.

"Ah, what about Matsuoka-san?"

This caught Haruka's attention and she looked at the two boys, staring at them. "What about me?"

"Kagami-kun's grades are too bad and he might not be able to play in Interhigh if he doesn't pull his grades up. The senpais offered to tutor him but Matsuoka-san has the best grades, don't you? You used to tutor Aomine-kun and Kise-kun."

"Oh perfect!" Chinatsu gasped. "Haruka has been told to learn basketball. Tiger can teach her basketball and Haruka will tutor you," Chinatsu smirked a little.

Kagami and Haruka looked at each other. Haruka really didn't want to tutor anyone again. Teaching Aomine and Kise was a nightmare and she really didn't want to repeat it again. And if she didn't want to learn basketball from Chinatsu, what would make her change her mind about learning basketball from Kagami?

Kagami was the first to look away and it looked like he was blushing a little. "T-teach me please..." Haruka's eyes widened a little and Kagami let out a huge sigh. "Teach me please! If I don't raise my grades, I won't be able to play. Please, Haruka!"

~.~

* * *

~.~

Having said yes to Kagami, Haruka's free weekend was taken up as well. Early in the morning on a Saturday, she found herself standing outside of Kagami's apartment, waiting for him to open the door. Kagami greeted her and let her into his apartment. "Um...have you eaten?" he asked, watching as Haruka sat at the coffee table.

Haruka shook her head and Kagami nodded, going into the kitchen and started making an English breakfast. Haruka took out her books and looked over to the open kitchen in the apartment, watching Kagami as he cooked. It was quite a rare sight for her since Haruka grew up in a rather traditional Japanese family with her mother as the housewife and doing all the cooking. Not even Aomine had made a sandwich for her before.

Kagami put the breakfast in front of her and sat next to her with his own, much larger, breakfast. "Itadakimasu," the two said together and started eating in silence. Once they finished, Kagami took the plates and put them in the sink before joining Haruka on the floor, staring at the pile of books she had brought with her.

"What would you like to start with?" Haruka asked. "I'm taking that you're pretty good with English since you came back from abroad so we won't be doing that. My best subjects are the sciences and I don't really have a worst subject but I don't particularly like maths," Haruka said. "Is there anything you really want to do today?"

"Er..."

"How about we start with Chemistry then?" Haruka suggested. "What do you need help with in Chemistry?" Kagami stared at Haruka with a confused look. "Don't tell me you don't even know what you need help with."

Kagami gave her a sheepish smile and scratched his head. Haruka sighed, opening the textbook and looked through the contents. She pointed out the topics in which they would be tested for the test coming up and decided to go through them one by one with Kagami. They opened their books and Haruka started tutoring him.

Compared to how she tutored Aomine and Kise a year and a half ago, Haruka had improved a lot in that field. That or Kagami was just really good at understanding but seeing as she still needed to explain a few times before he got it, Haruka decided that it was her tutoring skills that improved.

When they finished with Chemistry, Haruka moved on to the two other sciences. After four hours of studying, Kagami was starting to lose concentration "I think we should finish the tutoring here today," she said, closing her books. "I'll set you some questions and you can do them for next time. Also..."

"Yeah?" Kagami asked, stretching his arms and back, groaning softly. "Wow...studying is so hard and tiring."

"Do you mind teaching me basketball?"

"Huh?"

~.~

"So...what are we doing here?"

Haruka was not physically prepared for basketball on the court nor was she dressed for it. Kagami dribbled a basketball casually and looked at Haruka, blinking. "Hm...well, I'm not really good with theory so this is really the only way I can teach you. Plus, you'll learn it better by actually knowing how to play," he said. "We can start with the basics. Let's see your dribbling."

Kagami bounced the ball to Haruka who dodged it instead of catching it. The ball hit the fence behind her and bounced right onto Haruka's head. "Ow!" Haruka frowned and looked at Kagami. "I hate basketball."

"Sorry," Kagami smirked, picking up the ball and handed it to her gently. "Dribble."

Haruka looked down at the basketball and sighed softly, dropping the basketball on the ground and started 'dribbling' it. The ball bounced a bit too hard and nearly hit Haruka in the face but she dodged it, fortunately enough. Kagami blinked and laughed at her, holding his stomach. Haruka glared slightly and frowned at Kagami. "Why are you laughing at me?"

"Oh...it's just that...I always thought Haruka was perfect," Kagami laughed. "Seeing how bad you are at basketball, it just makes me think that even Matsuoka Haruka is just human."

"You think I'm perfect?"

"Well...you have a very princess-like name and you even look like a princess. You're pretty and has a nice body. You do dance and you're clever. I don't see why you shouldn't be considered perfect," Kagami said. "But even the perfect princess has her flaws. Like her inability to play basketball and her anti-social personality."

Haruka looked at Kagami and smiled softly, picking up the basketball. "I just need a good teacher."

"You were dribbling wrong."

Kagami went up to her and taught her the proper way to dribble. Once she got the hang of dribbling on the spot, Kagami made her dribble around the court. The basic training went on for two hours and by the end of it, Haruka was about to collapse. Not even cheerleading practice was as hard as this. When it came to basketball, Kagami became almost Spartan-like just as Haruka was with studying.

Kagami placed his hand on Haruka's head and ruffled her hair, giving her a grin. "You'll become a great basketball player soon enough," he smirked. Haruka smacked his hand away and panted heavily. "Oh? Tired? Come on, that was nothing!"

"I'd like to...like to see you...try dancing once and not get tired..." Haruka panted. "Or study for five hours straight."

~.~

* * *

~.~

Aomine raised an eyebrow, staring at Haruka as she dribbled round the basketball court and even shot at the basketball, getting it in. Chinatsu watched proudly with her hands clasped together and cheered and applauded when Haruka scored. Aomine stared with his mouth opened and looked at Chinatsu with a confused look.

"This is the princess, right?"

"Of course it's Haruka!"

"Then why is she playing basketball?"

Haruka held the basketball and looked at Aomine. "I have to learn basketball to know the rules and such to be a good cheerleader or whatnot. Kagami-kun has been teaching me," she said. "What are you doing here?"

"Chinatsu dragged me here. She said I would witness a miracle," he mumbled. "This is truly a miracle...the princess playing basketball," Aomine muttered.

He took the basketball from Haruka and dribbled it casually, throwing the ball into the air and watched as it went into the basketball. Haruka glared a little and knew that little demonstration was just Aomine showing off. Haruka jabbed him in the ribs and Aomine groaned in pain. "I'm going home," Haruka said, picking up her bag and the basketball.

Chinatsu pouted a little when the blonde decided to leave them. "Oh come on, Haruka. Let's hang out together! It's not like you have anything else to do at home anyway," she said. "Plus, Daiki is going to play against Seirin during the Interhigh. Don't you want to ask him some things about basketball?"

"Huh? I can't teach the theory of basketball. You learn by playing," Aomine said, putting his hands behind his head. Haruka stared at her childhood friend and smiled a little. He was so similar to Kagami that they were both saying the same thing to her. "Huh? What day is it today? Did the princess just smile?" he frowned and placed a hand on Haruka's forehead.

"I'm not ill," Haruka stated, her smile disappearing. "Kagami-kun said the same thing when he taught me how to play."

"Kagami? Who is this Kagami?" Aomine asked. "How the hell is he having so much influence on you? I've known you your entire life and you've never once asked me to teach you how to play basketball. Suddenly this Kagami comes in and you're smiling _and_ playing basketball? I'd like to meet this bastard. You're my princess, not his."

"Are you jealous, Daiki?" Chinatsu asked. "Oh my gosh, Daiki is jealous of tiger..."

"I'm not jealous!"

Even though he strongly denied it, Haruka knew that Aomine was jealous of a guy he never met before. She placed a hand on Aomine's arm and suddenly hugged him. "Thank you, Ao," she whispered.

"Oi...honestly, what is wrong with you today? Smiles and hugs? I'm seriously not used to this. And what the hell are you thanking me for?"

"For being you."


	19. You'll Never Be Her Prince

_Reviews would be appreciated~_

* * *

**It's Love, You Fool**

**GoM x OC**

**You'll Never Be Her Prince**

**~.~**

Aomine flicked the basketball into the air and caught it in one hand, staring at the sky while lying on the roof. As per usual, he was skipping basketball practice but today, he wasn't sleeping. There was something on his mind, bothering him. Ever since he saw Haruka playing basketball, Aomine didn't feel quite right. He had never met this Kagami but Aomine wasn't liking how he was getting so close with Haruka.

Aomine had known Haruka since kindergarten and they literally grew up together. He knew everything there was to know about Haruka and had been through more things with her than he did anything else. He watched as she went from the cute and bright princess to the anti-social and non-smiling princess. He stuck with her through thick and thin. Although he would never admit it, Aomine was hurt when Haruka left without a word and never contacted him.

For a while, he hated her for leaving so suddenly. Surely their friendship was worth more than that.

Aomine held onto his basketball and frowned. The more he thought about it, the more frustrated he got. Was he not considered her best friend anymore? Aomine knew he wasn't the only one who changed but did their childhood meant nothing to Haruka?

"Aomine-kun!"

Momoi had found Aomine to no surprise. The roof of the school building was Aomine's regular napping location and really, it was the only place Aomine would go to when he was skipping practice. "Ah...my peace and quiet is gone," Aomine grumbled, not moving an inch from his position as he continued flicking the basketball into the air.

Momoi caught the basketball and looked down at her best friend. "Aomine-kun," she said firmly, looking into his eyes. "We have a match coming up soon and you skipped practice? We'll be playing against Tetsu-kun! Are you not going to take this seriously?"

"I'll take it seriously even if I'm not practising," Aomine said. "But really, what's the point in it? They're not going to be good enough anyway."

"Aomine-kun!"

"Ah...so loud," Aomine frowned, wriggling his finger in his ear. He sat up and held the basketball on his lap. Momoi kept her eyes on her friend, sensing that something wasn't quite right with him but she kept her mouth shut lest Aomine snapped at her. "Satsuki...is Haruka still our friend?"

"Haru-Haru? Why are you asking about her suddenly?"

Aomine sighed deeply and laid down again on his back with his arm behind his head. "I saw her playing basketball the other day." Momoi gasped in surprise and Aomine looked up at her. "I know...it was shocking for me too. She smiled too. I haven't seen her smile in so long."

"Eh? Is Haru-Haru okay? Did she...bang her head or something?"

"She met a new guy," Aomine said, frowning a little. "Chinatsu said something about them getting really close. The princess is tutoring him and he's teaching her how to play basketball or something," he mumbled. "I can teach her how to play basketball..."

~.~

* * *

~.~

It was rare that Aomine was out and about on a day off. However, Aomine was more than excited to go out today because he was going to meet this so called Kagami who could make his princess smile. He headed for a street basketball court and someone was already on the court, presumably Kagami according to Momoi's information.

Aomine stood outside the court for a while and watched Kagami. He was tall, almost at Aomine's height and was of a large built. From what Aomine could see, he had a lot of potentials in basketball. But potentials were not enough if he didn't have the skills to beat other players. That was when Aomine stepped onto the court, challenging Kagami.

"So you're Kagami Taiga?" Aomine asked. "Satsuki was right about you being here. Right then, Kagami Taiga, I'm here to challenge you."

"Who the hell are you? I hate people who challenge out of the blue when they don't even tell me their name," Kagami frowned, turning to look at Aomine.

Aomine sniggered and smirked a little. "I can tell you my name. I'm Aomine Daiki. No one can be stronger than me and it's a waste of time trying to find this non-existent person. The only reason I'm here is because I'm bored and I want to know how much you can entertain me."

Needless to say, Kagami was riled up and it didn't take much for him to accept the challenge. It also didn't take Aomine much to crush Kagami completely. Aomine was getting bored and decided to end it with the last ball.

"I feel sorry for Tetsu. He's a shadow. Shadows are the strongest when there's a strong light." Aomine dribbled past Kagami, easily passing by. "Your light is dim."

Kagami was rather stunned by Aomine's ability. He could tell that Aomine wasn't playing to his full potential but it was more than enough to suppress Kagami. Aomine threw the ball into the basket and turned to look at Kagami.

"That was boring," he yawned, stretching his arms. "You're not good enough to bring Tetsu's ability to his full potential. I don't see what the princess sees in you either. Her ex-boyfriend is much better than you. You'll never be her prince, I'll make sure of that."

~.~

* * *

~.~

Haruka adjusted her bag on her shoulder and follow her squad as they entered into the building. Seirin was up against Touou that day and they had to cheer for their own basketball team. As much as Haruka hated being there, she was ever so slightly excited to see Aomine play. This would be the first time in a while since she had seen Aomine in action.

Haruka wasn't the only one buzzing. Chinatsu was practically stocked up on energy as she bounced about around Haruka, taking her hand and swinging it. Haruka was slightly annoyed, losing her excitement little by little as Chinatsu's increased. "Daiki is playing today~ I get to see Daiki play basketball~" Chinatsu sang.

"Chinatsu-san, we're supposed be to cheering for Seirin today. Remember Seirin? Our school?" Kaoru frowned slightly.

Chinatsu was too over her head to hear what Kaoru had to say. She shifted from irritating Haruka to attacking Kaoru with a hug. "Who cares?! Daiki is going to play!"

Ayane smacked Chinatsu hard behind the head and tugged at her hair. "Concentrate! If you're not going to behave yourself, I won't let you cheer today," she said, giving Chinatsu a look. "I understand that a Touou member is your boyfriend but that doesn't mean you can cheer any less for our own team. If I catch you cheering for your boyfriend even for a second, you're on the bench today."

"Hai hai..." Chinatsu sighed, rubbing her head.

As soon as the squad entered the building, they put their things on the bench where Seirin would be and started doing their warm-ups. As the players began to enter, Haruka looked over to Touou and frowned when she didn't see Aomine anywhere. Chinatsu was looking as well and the disappointment on her face was apparent.

The Seirin squad did a routine before the game started. As they cleared the court, the starting players lined up and greeted each other. The match began and that was when Haruka started to lose interest. Aomine wasn't here and even with their ace, Kagami, Seirin could barely score against Touou. As the second half was slowly coming up, just as Kagami was being subbed in after being subbed out, Aomine arrived.

Seeing the score difference and Aomine's arrival, Haruka suddenly got up, packing up her things. "Where do you think you're going?" Ayane asked, frowning at the blonde. "We still have the second half of the match. I know you don't understand basketball as well but really?"

"Look at the score," Haruka said, pointing at the score board. "It's already the second half and Ao is here. They might have hope if Ao wasn't here but they don't. They don't stand a chance. There's no point in us staying here and cheer on a team who has no hope of winning this match. I'm going home," she said, putting her bag on her shoulder.

"Matsuoka Haruka, you are a part of this squad. I don't care whether or not we have a chance at winning this match but we will stay here and cheer for them as best as we can," Ayane said. "I'm telling you to stay, Haruka, and this is not a request. This is an order."

Haruka looked over onto the court before looking back at Ayane and walked on. "Have fun cheering then," she said, waving behind her as she left the squad and the match.

~.~

* * *

~.~

Haruka leaned against the wall outside Touou's gates while students were leaving the school. Having skipped cheerleading, she came all the way to Touou to visit her friend. She wasn't sure why she suddenly had the urge to come and see Aomine but she did. She tried to keep it on the down low but was somehow recognised by some of the students. And her Seirin uniform made her stand out.

As the mass of students disappeared, Aomine was one of the last ones who didn't have club activities to leave. Clearly, he was skipping practice again. As he stepped through the gates, Haruka walked up to him. She didn't even bother calling out or tapping his shoulder and simply stood next to him. "Ao." Aomine turned his head slightly.

"Ah...princess."

"Ao...did you crush them? Seirin, of course..."

"112 to 55. Yeah, I crushed them," Aomine muttered. Haruka nodded. She expected as much. Aomine looked down at the blonde girl and frowned slightly. As much as he loved her for coming to see him, he didn't understand why. "Is there something you want to say to me? If you're here to tell me that I should have gone easy on them, save it. That was me going easy on them."

Haruka shook her head. "I'm just here to see an old friend," she said softly. "I'm still your friend, right?" Aomine stopped walking for a moment and placed his hand roughly on her head. He ruffled her hair and Haruka glared slightly. "I'll take that as a yes," she muttered softly. Aomine chuckled and flicked her forehead.

"Don't ever change, princess," he said, pinching her cheek. "I'll always be here for you. However, if you ever get together with that idiot, I won't ever forgive you."

Haruka frowned slightly, wondering who he was talking about. Considering the people they both knew, Haruka narrowed the 'idiot' down to Kagami. "He's just a friend. Why won't people believe that?"

"Because you can never be just friends with a princess who has big tits."

Haruka jabbed her fingers into Aomine's ribs, making him yelp. "We're just friends, Ao. Kagami-kun and I are just friends like we are," she stated. Aomine rubbed his ribs and glared slightly.

"Don't compare me to that idiot. I'm way better than him."

"You're way more arrogant."

"I take it back. You're just as annoying. Can't you do something about it?"

"Nah, I get my attitude from a certain blue hair male," Haruka smirked a little, looking up at Aomine. "He goes by the name Aomine Daiki. He's got a big head as well, always talking about how no one can beat him."

"I really hate you sometimes, princess."


	20. Mr Chu

_Reviews would be appreciated~_

* * *

**It's Love, You Fool**

**GoM x OC**

**Mr Chu~**

**~.~**

"Thank you~"

Natsuki chirped her thanks while shoving Kagami out of his own apartment. He was still wearing his apron when Natsuki literally slammed the door in his face. The other girls were rather used to Natsuki's eccentricity by this point but no one understood why Kagami was kicked out of his own apartment. Natsuki locked the door from inside and turned to face the girls.

They stared back silently while Natsuki hummed, walking over to her laptop and brought up a video. "This is for the convenient of Haruka," she said, turning the screen so everyone could see. "I have a good news and a bad news. Good news is, at the last summer festival, Angels are invited to perform as the last attraction of the day before the fireworks. Bad news is, we have to have at least one new dance."

She clicked play on the video and the girls gathered round to watch. Just the title of the song itself was enough to disgust Haruka. _Mr Chu_. As they watched on, Haruka was slowly retreating from the laptop. She wanted out of this. She didn't want to do the dance at all because it was the most cutesy thing she had ever seen and she would rather be dead than wear those floral dresses.

"Where do you think you're going, Haruka?" Natsuki asked, giving Haruka a fake smile. "You better not back out of this. You're our centre after all. Right, have you all seen it? Now that we have, let's discuss. I want to incorporate our own choreography into this dance so it'll be more suited for five people. And instead of our usual having one person in the centre, I thought we could do it in the way of idol groups."

"So we take turns standing in the centre?" Chinatsu asked.

"Yes!" Natsuki grinned. "I've already figured that part out and here's how we're doing it."

Natsuki produced a piece of paper with all the times of when who would be the centre. The girls took a look at it and instantly, Kiyoko raised her hand. "Why does Haruka still have more centre time than the rest of us?"

"Because she's our star," Natsuki said. "With this performance at the festival, I want to make Haru-Haru a more approachable character. Which is also why Kagami-kun isn't here," Natsuki explained. "A lot of fans have been saying the same thing. Haru-Haru looks scary and should smile more. With this new dance, we will change that. I don't want Kagami-kun to see the dance until the very last rehearsal. If Haruka can make Kagami-kun blush, she succeeds."

"You do realise that tiger already blushes around Haruka, right?" Chinatsu frowned.

Natsuki shook her head, wagging her finger from side to side. "You're wrong," she said. "Kagami-kun blushes around all of us, more around Haruka but around all of us. It's only certain things that Haruka does that will make him blush. If you can make Kagami-kun blush genuinely with this dance, Haruka passes and we will have succeeded in changing her image."

Everyone looked at Haruka who stared at them blankly. Her mission was to make Kagami blush but could Haruka do it?

~.~

* * *

~.~

Summer festivals were something that Haruka was never up for. When she was younger, her mother or Aomine's mother would bring the three childhood friends to the festival. Momoi and Haruka would be dressed in their little kimonos and Aomine would be fussing about having to wear a kimono. Those were all good memories but Haruka soon outgrew festivals.

She hated seeing happy families walking about her. Father, mother, children, and grandparents. She had never been to a single festival with her own family. It was only ever with her mother.

Coming to the last festival of the season with the Angels was the first time in forever Haruka had been to a festival. She already disliked the feeling of the festival as soon as they arrived. Families and couples were everywhere as if they were mocking her.

"Haruka-san."

Haruka turned around and saw Kuroko standing right there. Next to the light blue-haired male was Kagami. "Kuroko-kun," she nodded and her eyes drifted to Kagami. "Kagami-kun." As he had something to do on their final dress rehearsal day, the Angels never got to show their new dance to him but it didn't stop Haruka thinking of the challenge Natsuki set her.

Would she be able to make Kagami genuinely blush?

"Kagami-kun said he wanted to experience the festival at least once. What are you doing here?" Kuroko asked. Even if he didn't know her well enough, Kuroko could tell that Haruka wasn't the type to come to a festival by herself.

"The Angels have a performance before the fireworks tonight," she said. "Natsuki-senpai told us to come earlier because she wanted us to do something before our performance."

"I see. So you're meeting up with the other Angels?"

Speaking of which, Haruka had yet to see the other Angels though they had agreed on the time and place to meet. She looked down at her phone to check the time and frowned. They were all late. Just as she was about to call Natsuki to confirm, she was suddenly attacked by a hug, dragging her to the side. Kuroko and Kagami stood watch, already used to this kind of treatment Haruka would get.

"Haruka~" Chinatsu sang, grinning brightly. "Guess what?! Daiki's here too!"

"Aomine? What's he doing here?" An automatic frown appeared on Kagami's face and Chinatsu glared, flicking him on the arm. "Ow! What was that for?!"

"Why can't Daiki be here? He's my boyfriend," Chinatsu stated. "He said something about wanting to relax before the final of Interhigh so I suggested coming to the festival on a date~"

Haruka frowned slightly. She was pretty sure Natsuki wanted all of them to do something before the performance so where in the world would Chinatsu find the time to have a date with Aomine? "Didn't Natsuki-senpai said she wanted us to do something?"

"Oh, that's also what I came to tell you," Chinatsu smiled, keeping her arms around Haruka and rested her chin on the blonde's shoulder. "You see, to help us get into the mood of our new dance, Natsuki-senpai suggested that we go on dates," she smirked. "Obviously, I have Daiki and Natsuki-senpai is going with her four-eyed boyfriend. From what I know, the guy Kaoru has a crush on is in town because of the Interhigh. Kiyoko is somewhere here with model-kun. That just leaves you."

Chinatsu looked at Haruka. Obviously, a certain red head wasn't anywhere near Haruka and even if he was, Haruka wouldn't go on a 'date' with him in order to stimulate her lovey-dovey feelings for their new dance.

Haruka shrugged and pushed Chinatsu's arms off. "I'll be fine," she said. "Go and have your date with Ao. I'll walk around by myself."

"No you won't!" Chinatsu exclaimed and wriggled her eyebrows at Kagami. "Oi tiger, want a date with Haru-Haru?"

~.~

Somehow, Haruka ended up being partnered with Kagami (with Kuroko tagging along behind them) and were on a 'double date' with Chinatsu and Aomine. The tension between the two tall males were unbearable and Haruka honestly wished she was somewhere else apart from here. What made it even more awkward was Kuroko walking in between the two males while Haruka and Chinatsu walked in front of them.

"Would you like to try our couple challenge?" A staff walked up to the group and gave them a big smile. They blinked and stared at her, waiting for her to explain what the couple challenge was. "All you need to do is to go through this haunted house while holding hands the entire time. If you come out having held hands the entire journey, you will win this necklace that you can give to your girlfriend."

"Let's do it!" Chinatsu gasped, grabbing Aomine's hand.

Without any more words, Chinatsu dragged Aomine with her and they entered into the haunted house. Haruka stared at the haunted house and frowned. Haunt house meant ghosts. Ghosts meant the one thing that Haruka feared. She gulped and looked at Kagami. He didn't really have any particular expression on.

And before they could protest, the staff member pushed them toward the haunted house and before they knew it, they were already inside. Having no other choice and didn't want to seem like a wimp to the people who worked there, Haruka took Kagami's hand in hers. She didn't want the necklace but holding onto his hand was Haruka's way of feeling safer.

Slowly, they began to make their way through the place. It was relatively quiet at the beginning with barely anything too scary jumping out at them. The place looked creepy in general and there were several skeletons lying around the place. However, as they got to the midway point, that was when all hell broke lose.

Someone dressed up in a costume jumped out, scaring them. Haruka froze on the spot and tried to squeeze Kagami's hand only to realise that Kagami was no longer there. Instead, she could hear someone screaming and running toward the exit. Kagami turned out to just as much of a wimp as Haruka was, if not more.

However, without Kagami, Haruka couldn't move. There was no way that she would go through the haunted house by herself while she knew that there was going to be scarier things as she neared the exit. She stood rooted to the ground and looked around herself, wondering what she was to do. There was no way she was going back the way they came through by herself either.

"Hm...haunted house. Can't we do something else, Reo-nee? This doesn't look scary at all~"

"If you're not going to experience everything, what's the point in being at a Tokyo festival?"

"When are we going to eat? I'm hungry."

"You're always hungry, you gorilla."

"Oh! There's a lost girl! Could she be part of the attraction? She must be a ghost girl!"

"Kotaro, behave. We're here to enjoy the festival, not scare the staff who work here."

Haruka could hear a group of guys coming from behind her but she didn't dare to turn around. Perhaps she could follow behind them. She won't be able to hold onto them when she got scared but at least she would be a lot safer than walking through the place by herself.

She jumped when a boy with orange hair and a snaggle tooth peeked at her from the side. He smirked a little then his eyes widened when he recognised who she was. "Haru-Haru!"

Haruka didn't really have the time to tell him thank you for recognising her because all she wanted was to leave the haunted house. "Haruka?" Her eyes widened at the voice and her instinct was to close her eyes quickly. "What are you doing here?"

"I-I live in Tokyo."

"I meant what are you doing in a haunted house."

"The couple challenge," Haruka said without thinking. "I...you win a necklace if you hold hands with your partner the entire time."

"Then where's your partner?" the snaggle tooth boy asked.

Haruka could still feel the snaggle tooth boy right next to her and she had a feeling that his face was right in front of hers. "He...got scared." The snaggle tooth boy sniggered and burst out laughing loudly. Haruka frowned, really finding him annoying. Of all the people she could run into, she had to run into Akashi and his new team.

Why was he here anywhere? Oh, for Interhigh. But Akashi wasn't the type to come to festivals. Haruka's best guess was that one of his team mates had managed to convince Akashi otherwise.

That was when Haruka felt someone holding her hand. Even though she wasn't looking, she could tell from the feel of his hand that it was Akashi. "Akashi?" Hayama frowned slightly. "You only said you knew _of_ them!" he gasped. "Could it be, you're Haru-Haru's jerky ex-boyfriend?!"

"I would prefer if you kept your mouth shut, Kotaro," Akashi said. He led the way and Haruka gripped his hand tightly. "You would go through a haunted house with a coward boyfriend just so you could win some cheap necklace?"

"I would go through a haunted house with anyone so I can win the cheap necklace. It's romantic. But it's not like you know anything about romance," Haruka mumbled.

For the rest of the journey, they walked in silence. Haruka kept her eyes closed, trusting that Akashi would get her out safely. She really didn't want to look at him at all. She didn't hear any screams or shouts coming from the monsters so she peeked to see that Hayama, Reo and Eikichi were walking ahead of them to scare the people in costumes before they could scare her.

As they came out, Haruka still had her eyes closed. "Oh...were you always partnered with her?" the staff asked, looking at Haruka. "I saw a boy running out and I'm sure he was her partner."

"You've got it wrong. She's my girlfriend, of course I was holding her hand through this the entire time," Akashi said. "I believe we win a necklace, do we not?"

With Akashi's oppressive aura, the staff had no choice but to give in and handed the necklace over. Akashi looked at Haruka, finally releasing her hand. He didn't say anything to her but instead, pressed the necklace in her hand and gave her hand a kiss before telling his team mates that they were going.

"You idiot! The princess is afraid of ghosts and you just left her all alone in the haunted house?!"

"How am I supposed to know that she's afraid of ghosts?!"

"Ah...tiger is afraid of ghosts."

"Shut up! I can't help what I'm afraid of!"

Haruka opened her eyes when she heard the familiar voices. There was no red heads anywhere near her but instead of feeling relieved, Haruka felt a pain in her heart. She should have opened her eyes sooner. She looked down at the necklace in her hand and stared at it for a long time, feeling tears rolled down her cheek. "Princess!"

As much as he had changed to an inconsiderate, rude and violent jerk, deep down in Aomine's heart, Haruka was still his princess. She turned around and looked at Aomine, crying uncontrollably now. Aomine was shocked and didn't know what to do. Chinatsu ran up to Haruka and hugged her tightly, trying to comfort the blonde.

Kagami felt sorry, thinking that she was crying because he left her all alone in the haunted house. But then he saw the necklace in her hand. "How did you get that?" Kagami asked, pointing to the necklace. "You have to go through the haunted house while holding hands all the time with your partner. I was your partner."

"Sei..."

"Akashi?" Aomine frowned. "Oh yeah, he's in Tokyo for Interhigh."

"Tofu soup guy?" Kagami asked.

"You can't cry, Haruka! We still have the performance later. What are we going to do now?"

Haruka had more or less calmed down and her tears had stopped. As they went through the festival and wasted time before the girls had to go, Haruka's mind was elsewhere. Even as she was changing into her performance clothes, her mind wasn't concentrating at all. Noticing that Haruka was slightly different to normal, Natsuki couldn't help but feel nervous. Surely she wasn't going to ruin the performance.

Kaoru placed a hand on Haruka's shoulder and squeezed it gently. "You don't have to worry about anything," she said, giving Haruka a small smile. "You just have to imagine you're doing it for someone you like. After all, the song for our new dance is about having a crush, right?"

Haruka nodded, looking away. This was the same thing Kaoru told her back when they were performing in middle school. Back then, Haruka did have someone she liked. Did she like anyone now? She didn't have enough time to think as they had to get on stage.

The Angels were surprisingly popular for a group that was formed solely for a middle school. Haruka was blinded by the spotlight as she stepped onto the stage with her members. Behind them, the screen was introducing the members. As Haruka's face appeared on the screen, the music was starting and they began with _Happy Synthesizer_.

As they got to their new dance, everyone on stage was nervous. Natsuki subconsciously looked over to Haruka. Her expression was different. Haruka looked a lot more relax and the smiles that she had been flashing weren't her usual fake ones but they looked rather genuine. Whatever was on her mind, Natsuki hoped that Haruka would keep it in her mind for the new dance.

As the song began, Haruka was scanning the audience down below. Her hope of finding the red head in the crowd of people was what kept her smiling. She did the first two lines of the song perfectly before Kiyoko took over the centre spot, then Kaoru, then Natsuki, then Chinatsu and finally back to Haruka when they did the chorus.

Haruka did her best as she tried to study each face. How hard could it be to try and find one guy with red hair in a sea of people? Very hard. Her mood was starting to drop but the hope of seeing him kept Haruka smiling and dancing.

How did he look like? Did he grow in height? Were his eyes still one red and one yellow?

Below the stage, Kagami was watching. He had never seen Haruka like she was right now on the stage. Although he knew it was only a performance, Kagami couldn't help but blush a little. It might sound silly but it felt like Haruka was confessing. He knew it wasn't true but he just couldn't help but felt that it was. Her smile, the rare winks that she would give.

Everything about her made him blush.

Far away from the crowd, Akashi watched the performance. The Haruka that only he had seen before was on stage, dancing to a song that talked about having a crush. Was she trying to confess? Who was she confessing to? Was it the new guy she had met at her school? Akashi placed his hand on his chest over his heart.

It hurt. It hurt to see Haruka happy without him. The reason? Akashi had no idea.

The dance ended and the applause the Angels received was like never before. Haruka scanned the crowd one last time but had failed to locate the one person she wanted to see the most. The girls started hugging each other and Haruka was pulled into a hug though she was in a trance. Chinatsu grinned and ruffled her hair but realised that something wasn't quite right with Haruka.

"Haruka? What's wrong? That went so well! I've never seen you so happy while performing!" Chinatsu exclaimed, hugging Haruka tightly. "I'm so proud of you!"

"I can't breathe..."

Chinatsu pulled away quickly, thinking that she hugged Haruka slightly too tightly. Haruka was breathing heavily. Chinatsu's initial thought was that she was just out of breath from the dancing and Chinatsu's hug might had been a bit too tight. But when her breathing wasn't calming down at all, Chinatsu started to worry.

"Haruka?"

"I can't breathe..." Haruka panted, frowning and looked at Chinatsu. "I can't breathe!"

"Haruka!"

By now, everyone's attention was on Haruka who was stumbling backward. Chinatsu grabbed her arms, stopping her from falling over. "I can't breathe!" Haruka wheezed, tears falling down her tears. "He's not here! I can't breathe!"

"Oi, Haruka!"

"I can't breathe..."

Her eyes shut and Haruka slipped into unconsciousness. Chinatsu could barely hold the girl and they dropped to the floor together. "Haruka!" Several figures in the crowd rushed to the stage. Aomine and Kagami climbed onto the stage first and Aomine took over from Chinatsu. Haruka was knocked out cold and Aomine held her tightly in his arms.

"Call for an ambulance. Now!" he shouted.

* * *

A/N: Look up the song to their new dance! Mr. Chu by A Pink!


	21. Tofu Soup

_Reviews would be appreciated~_

* * *

**It's Love, You Fool**

**GoM x OC**

**Tofu Soup**

**~.~**

Haruka's first thought was that she was dead.

She was dead and had gone to a pure white heaven.

As her eyelids fluttered open, Haruka could hardly register where she was. All she knew that she was definitely not in her own room because the many pillows that she slept with weren't there. Instead, a single white pillow laid under her head and it wasn't even fluffy.

Haruka sat up on the bed and frowned slightly to herself, seeing gifts around her. The nearest to her was a giant teddy bear sitting in the chair right next to the bed. A card was placed on the bear's lap and Haruka took it, opening the card and read it:

_Get well soon, Haruka! Daiki chose the bear for you! We'll be coming to see you again! -Chinatsu_

On the nightstand, there was a bag of chocolates with a 'Get Well Soon' balloon tied to the bag. A card was laying next to the bag and Haruka picked that up, opening it:

_Haru-hime-cchi! I'm so sorry I wasn't there at the festival! I wish I was there for you when you fainted! No worries, enjoy the chocolates and Ki-chan will let me know how you're doing. I'll come and visit you after my shoot if you're still in hospital! Get well soon! -Kise_

Haruka was slowly starting to realise that she was in a private room in the hospital. She looked up and scanned the room, seeing more gifts dotted around the placed. She slipped out of the bed and walked over to the sofa where two flower bouquets sat. Both had a small card inside saying, "Get Well Soon" but one was from the Seirin cheerleading squad and the other the basketball club.

On the table in front of the sofa, Haruka noticed her belongings neatly placed on top of it. Her phone was among those belongings and a small light was blinking, indicating that she had messages. Haruka sat on the sofa and picked up her phone, flipping it open to check through her messages.

_Haruka, are you awake? Daiki called me and told me you fainted. Please call me when you're awake. -Mum_

_Haruka, I'll be there to see you again tomorrow. -Mum_

_Capricorn's lucky item is a crystal necklace. -Midorima_

_Won't be there to see you. Text me if you're alive. -Kiyoko_

_Haru-chin, I can't visit you but get well soon~ I will buy you lots of Maiu-bo~ -Murasakibara_

_Haru-hime-cchi! (ノД`)・゜・。I'm sorry I'm not there for you! I promise I'll get there as soon as my shoot finishes. -Kise_

_Your father is home. We'll come and see you this afternoon. -Mum_

"Oh, you're awake." The door opened and a man in a white coat with a stethoscope around his neck walked in. "Quite the popular girl, aren't we?" he smiled, indicating to the gifts that were dotted around the room. "We had to move you in here when the gifts became too much in the shared wards," he said, giving Haruka a warm smile. "So, how are we feeling today?"

"Um...good." Haruka wasn't entirely sure why she was in the hospital. She could hardly remember anything from the festival, let alone how she ended up in hospital. The doctor went through some routine questions and Haruka answered them. Then it was her turn to ask the doctor a question. "Why am I here?" she asked.

The doctor looked up from the clipboard, raising an eyebrow at her. "You fainted. There isn't any reason for you to faint according to the results of the tests that we ran on you. Do you remember what happened?" Haruka shook her head. "That's okay. You are fine now but you still have to stay another night for observation. You can leave tomorrow afternoon."

As the doctor put the clipboard back, the door opened and a group of people walked in. Walking at the very front of the group was Chinatsu. She stopped short as soon as she saw the doctor and behind her, Aomine bumped into her. Everyone else behind them started crashing into each other and were soon complaining loudly.

The doctor sighed loudly and looked over to Haruka. "They were also the reason why you got a private room," he stated before giving her a smile. "I'll shall be checking on you later on," he informed her before heading out the door but not before he stopped and gave the group a stern look. "She needs her rest and I wouldn't like a repeat of what happened last night. Understand?"

The group simultaneously saluted the doctor and they didn't relax until he left. As soon as he was out of sight, Chinatsu was the first to drop her salute before turning to Haruka. She ran up to the blonde and hugged her tightly, putting their cheeks together. Haruka could hardly breathe but she knew that Chinatsu was only concerned about her. "I was so worried! I couldn't sleep all night!"

"Is that why you went and bought the teddy bear?" Haruka asked, looking at the bear that was still sat in the chair next to the hospital bed.

"It was in the hospital shop and Daiki insisted that you would want it."

"Oi! Don't put words in my mouth! I didn't say that!"

"Haru-Haru!" Momoi cried, hugging her too.

"How are you feeling, Haruka-san?" Kaoru asked. "What did the doctor say?"

Kuroko and Kagami stood at the rear of the group. Although they didn't say anything, Haruka could see that they were glad that she was fine. Haruka stared at the group and suddenly felt the urge to cry. She never knew what this feeling was. Haruka thought she was alone because that was how her life looked like.

Her father was never there and her mother only ever made excuse for him to not be there. Thought Aomine and Momoi tried hard, they eventually grew apart. And then there was the whole ordeal with Akashi. This was the first time in a long while Haruka felt she was loved. And so, her tears fell down her cheeks and Haruka broke into hysterics.

The group just stood there, stunned. This was the first time they had seen Haruka so emotional. Aomine was probably the only person who had ever seen Haruka cry but this was different.

Without saying anything, Aomine hugged Haruka, stroking her back gently. No words were needed because they both knew that Aomine wasn't going anywhere. From that one hug, it slowly became a group hug with Kagami and Kuroko standing awkwardly outside the circle of friends. Haruka cried for a while before calming herself down.

Normally a macho man who arrogance, Aomine had toned down to being the best friend Haruka had since kindergarten. He wiped her tears for her before pinching her cheek. "You know I'm not good with tears. What was that for?"

"I love you, Ao," Haruka said, hugging him again. This took Aomine by surprise. In all the years they had been friends, he never once heard her telling him that she loved him. When they were younger, Aomine made an effort to tell her that everyday so she would feel loved but she never once said it back to him. Haruka pulled away then hugged Momoi next. "I love you, Satsuki..."

"Haru-Haru..."

Momoi was on the brink of tears but before her emotions got to her, Haruka pulled away and hugged Chinatsu and Kaoru. "I love you guys too," she whispered, closing her eyes. "I couldn't ask for better friends." When she pulled away from the two girls and turned to look at Kuroko, he stared back with his usual blank eyes.

"I don't think we are on the level of love yet, Matsuoka-san."

"I agree with you, Kuroko-kun," she said then looked at Kagami. She had only known him for a while and really, Haruka was entirely sure what they had. However, whatever it was between them, Haruka still proceeded and hugged Kagami. "Thank you, Kagami-kun."

"Ah..." Kagami frowned, feeling extremely awkward. Not only was Haruka hugging him but he was receiving death glares from Aomine. As he went to pet Haruka's back in return, Aomine's glare intensified and he shouted at Kagami to be careful where he placed his hand.

The door opened and the nurse came in, holding a tray of food on it. She smiled at the group and placed the meal on the table before looking at Haruka. "You're a lucky girl," she said. "You have all your friends coming to check on you and a special meal ordered by a caring boyfriend." Haruka frowned, not knowing what the nurse was talking about. "Last night, a red haired boy told us to make you tofu soup this morning," she explained. She got up and went over to the nightstand, opening the drawer and took out a small box and a card. "He left this."

Haruka took the box and card from the nurse, sitting on the bed. She opened the card first and there were four messages written on it:

_Eat lots of meat to get your proteins! You won't faint if you have lots of muscles! -Nebuya_

_A beautiful princess is deep in dream land~ Too bad her prince has to leave. Don't worry, Sei-chan will come back to wake you with a kiss~ -Mibuchi_

_Haru-Haru! I'm a big fan so get well soon! It's weird seeing Akashi so worried so please wake up soon! -Hayama_

_Take care. -Akashi Seijuro_

After reading the card, Haruka placed it aside and looked at the small box. She opened it to reveal a pendant inside. The pendant was in the shape of a crown, with what looked like precious stones embedded in the points. Chinatsu took a peek at it and gasped, grabbing it from Haruka. "Oh my god..." she muttered. She put her hand down and looked at Aomine, smacking his arm. "Why don't you ever get me things like this?!"

Even the quiet Kaoru took a peek at the present. Her eyes widened and looked at Haruka with her mouth slightly opened. Momoi grabbed the box from Chinatsu and gasped loudly. "Akashi-kun got you this?" she asked. "So romantic~"

"Isn't that a bit too expensive?" Kagami asked, taking a look at the pendant. Now he felt bad for not buying Haruka a get well soon present. "He's a high school student just like us, isn't he? Where did he get the money?"

"Akashi-kun's father is the head of a very powerful company in Japan," Kuroko explained. "It's not surprising that Akashi-kun would be able to afford something like that. It is surprising that Akashi-kun would spend money like that though."

Haruka plucked the box out of Momoi's hand and closed it, putting it under her pillow before asking for her meal to be brought to her in bed. Although the others wouldn't understand it, Haruka knew exactly why Akashi bought her a pendant. It wasn't so that he could show off his wealth. It just so happened that he bought something expensive but the price of it wasn't the reason behind the purchase.

_I would go through a haunted house with anyone so I can win the cheap necklace. It's romantic. But it's not like you know anything about romance._

Those were the exact words Haruka said to Akashi when they were in the haunted house. Akashi took it to heart. He was jealous that Haruka would go through the haunted house with Kagami even though she was abandoned halfway through because it was romantic if they won the necklace. So he went and bought her a necklace.

A pendant in the shape of a crown that went well with Haruka's nickname. Princess.

Everyone looked to Haruka, wondering how she would react. Their break-up wasn't mutual after all and Haruka had to leave the country as a result. Was this a sign that they were getting back together?

Haruka, however, acted as if nothing was special and went on to eat her meal silently, looking to her friends. One pendant did not signify anything. Akashi might thought that this 'romantic' gesture of his would win Haruka back but a broken heart wasn't easily mended by a single crown pendant. "Hm...I don't really like tofu soup."

Kagami watched Haruka, wondering what was going on in her mind. This Akashi clearly meant a lot to her. After all, she learnt how to make tofu soup especially for him. But here she was, pretending that nothing happened, putting Akashi to the back of her mind. Did that mean that there was no chance of them getting back together?

Why was Kagami feeling so happy that Haruka wouldn't be getting back with her ex-boyfriend?


	22. Fateful Reunion

_Reviews would be appreciated~_

* * *

**It's Love, You Fool**

**GoM x OC**

**Fateful Reunion**

**~.~**

_"America?"_

_"I'm going back to train with my teacher back in the States for the Winter Cup." __Kagami held a bunch of keys in front of Haruka's face and she frowned, taking them. "This is for when you guys need to use my place for practice."_

"And that's why I have the keys."

The other Angels stared at Haruka as she explained why she had the keys to Kagami's apartment when the owner himself was in another country. Natsuki raised an eyebrow and looked at Chinatsu who had the same expression on. Kaoru looked a little confused as to why it was surprising to her friends while Kiyoko had a smirk tattooed onto her face.

Haruka frowned, wondering why they all had looks on their faces. "What?"

"He gave you his keys," Chinatsu said. Haruka still didn't understand though. "_He gave you his keys_."

"Oh please, like an idiot like her would understand," Kiyoko rolled her eyes and continued to smirk, looking at Haruka. "He gave you his keys to his apartment, stupid. What kind of people would you give the keys to your house to? Someone you trust. Someone you like."

Haruka raised an eyebrow at the very last comment before bursting into laughter. "Oh god...you guys are so funny," she said before returning to her expressionless face in less than a second. "No but seriously, don't mess up the apartment because I have to clean up afterwards."

~.~

* * *

~.~

Finally, the arrival of the important Winter Cup.

High school basketball teams across the country had trained hard for this tournament and finally, they were walking towards the gymnasium where it would be held.

As they alighted the bus, Haruka looked around to see players and spectators making their way into the gymnasium. Not far away from them, Kaijo's cheerleading squad was arriving at the same time. Kiyoko got off and looked around as well, making eye contact with Haruka. They looked at each other for a while before giving acknowledgement nods and followed their respective squads into the gymnasium.

There was an opening ceremony before the tournament began and after the ceremony, while the players were getting ready, the cheerleading squads got the chance to show off their cheers.

While getting ready, Chinatsu suddenly disappeared, telling only Haruka that she was going to look for Aomine. As the opening ceremony was nearing, Ayane was getting impatient as Chinatsu was still nowhere to be seen. Being the only one who knew where she could be, Haruka was sent to get her. Walking while on the phone, Haruka couldn't get through to Chinatsu's nor Aomine's phone.

However, looking for them wasn't that hard when there was a group of rainbow haired males stood in the same spot with Chinatsu latching onto Aomine's arm. "Chinat-"

As Haruka called out to Chinatsu, she finally noticed who else was there. Akashi was standing on the stairs, holding a pair of scissors in his hand. Kagami stood at the bottom of the stairs and the two were obviously not getting along. As Akashi suddenly attacked Kagami with the scissors, Haruka's instinct kicked in. She ran up to him and pushed him away.

Surprised, it took Akashi a while to realise who she was and stopped himself from bringing the scissors to Haruka's face. Haruka was a bit too late though and there was a scratch on Kagami's cheek though he was rather good at dodging it.

Realising what was happening, Haruka's eyes widened and stared at Akashi. No one said anything as Akashi slowly stepped down the stairs, keeping his eyes on Haruka the entire time. This was the first time since they had broken up that Haruka was seeing Akashi. He had grown. He was now much taller than she was and his face had matured.

While processing Akashi's features, Haruka was too late to react to Akashi taking her chin and tilting her head up. Before she even realised what was going on, Akashi crashed his lips against her. For a while, Haruka had forgotten that they weren't a couple anymore. How long ago was it that they had kissed? Too long...

Haruka closed her eyes and placed her hands behind Akashi's neck as she kissed back. But then she remembered that it was Akashi and they were broken up. Her eyelids fluttered open and she pushed away from him. Her foot slipped on the stairs and fell backward when she pushed away. In front of her, Akashi grabbed at her hand but behind her, Kagami already wrapped his arms around her waist, catching her.

"Tofu soup guy?" Kagami asked, muttering so that only Haruka could hear. When Haruka nodded, Kagami stood up straight, suddenly sweeping Haruka off her feet and carried her princess-style in his arms while glaring down at Akashi. "I'll be taking her."

"So cool!" Aomine quickly covered Chinatsu's mouth before Akashi could see who it was who squealed at his girl being stolen. Chinatsu grinned and gave Kagami a thumbs-up to which Aomine reacted with grabbing her arms, forcing them down by her side.

"So he is your new cowardly boyfriend?" Akashi asked, looking at Haruka and ignored Kagami. "I thought you would have found someone better but obviously, your taste in men after me...is questionable."

Haruka gripped onto Kagami's shirt tightly, her hands tightly clutched into fists. Kagami wasn't her new boyfriend but somehow, Akashi's words had offended her. What was wrong with Kagami? Kagami was tall, built, kind, caring, and understanding. Akashi was not as tall, not as built and definitely not kind, caring, and understanding after he had changed. Kagami was way better than Akashi. Way better.

"As long as my taste isn't you anymore, I see no problems with it," Haruka stated. Akashi frowned, obviously not expecting that from her. "Kagami-kun, let's go. The opening ceremony is about to begin. Chinatsu-san, captain is looking for you."

Without letting Haruka down, Kagami walked away with her still in his arms. Chinatsu trotted after them, still the only one who was fangirling over Kagami's actions. As they were putting distance between them and Akashi, Haruka buried her face into Kagami's shirt, her fists still tightly clutched. Kagami looked down at her and held her tighter against his body.

"You okay?" he asked.

"No..."

"You can cry. It's okay."

With those words, Haruka let her tears fall. She didn't know why she was crying. Why was she crying over someone who would never understand what he had done to her? Why did it hurt to see him again? Why didn't he try harder to win her back?

~.~

* * *

~.~

The walk back to his team was long. Now that he was alone, Akashi had more time to his own thoughts. He couldn't help but start thinking about Haruka. She looked different. She hadn't grown in height but other areas, specifically around the chest, had grown a little. The cheerleading uniform was a little surprising to Akashi. He hadn't expect her to join something so out of her character.

But then what did he know about Haruka? Everything he knew from middle school about her was now different. For a start, she no longer loved him. There was a pang in his heart when that thought crossed his mind. Akashi placed his hand over his heart and stopped walking. What was this feeling? Why did it hurt so much knowing that Haruka no longer loved him?

"Sei-chan?"

Akashi looked up, half expecting to see Haruka standing in front of him, giving him the smile that only Akashi got to see. However, the voice was much too low to be Haruka's. Mibuchi stood in front of Akashi, waving his hand in front of his captain's face. "Yes?" Akashi finally responded, snapping back to his captain demeanour.

"Nothing. You just seemed out of it," Mibuchi said and tilted his head to the side a little. "Is something wrong?"

Akashi contemplated on whether or not he should tell Mibuchi but finally decided against it. He could deal with his own problems perfectly well. He didn't need more people intervening with his problems concerning Haruka. "Nothing is wrong," Akashi replied and walked past Mibuchi, heading back to the rest of the team. "Let's go. The opening ceremony is beginning."

The opening ceremony was agonising. From the corner of his eyes, Akashi could see Haruka sitting with her cheerleading squad, wearing the Seirin cheerleading uniform. His mind started wandering in the middle of the ceremony, imagining what Haruka would look like in the Rakuzan cheerleading uniform instead.

Once the ceremony ended, Akashi could help but let his line of sight be pulled to Haruka. This time, she was smiling. Akashi recognised that smile. It was the one that only he used to be able to see. Not only that but she was laughing too. Haruka's life had completely changed. She no longer relied on someone, specifically Akashi. She was finally happy and Akashi wasn't the reason behind it.

"Hm...Haru-Haru has changed lately," Hayama said, snapping Akashi back to reality. His attention was finally pulled away from Haruka and he focused on Hayama who suddenly made that comment. "She's...so much more friendlier now," he said, looking to Akashi. "Haru-Haru would never smile like that before. Hm...I wonder what made her change."

"Eh? Haru-Haru? Are you talking about Akashi's ex-girlfriend?" Nebuya asked.

Akashi tensed and Mibuchi was the only one who noticed. "If she's Sei-chan's ex, Sei-chan doesn't need her," Mibuchi chirped, smiling at Akashi. "Sei-chan has me after all~"

"Her change does not concern me in any way," Akashi stated. "Like you said, she's my ex-girlfriend. If anything, she's past tense. Right now, our priority is to focus on the Winter Cup. Don't think that you can even relax for a second in all your matches. We have no time to be thinking of other things."

Mibuchi stared at Akashi with a small smile on his face. Although smiling, Mibuchi was by no means happy on the inside. He didn't like how Akashi was deviating from his normal self. He was slowly his cool and that was not okay with Mibuchi. As much as he had his pride as a senpai, Mibuchi thought that Akashi was a great captain but this captain was slowly degrading into a lovestruck teenager.

He had to see for himself who this Haruka was.

~.~

* * *

~.~

Having excused himself from his team, Mibuchi leaned on the way close to the entrance where everyone went through and came out of. Many people had gone in and out but he was only waiting for one. Finally, he spotted the blonde girl that he recognised from the pictures that Hayama had shown him before. Mibuchi approached her with a smile on his face, standing in front of the blonde.

Haruka stopped when the tall male suddenly stood in her way, giving her a creepy smile. She frowned and looked at Chinatsu. Neither of them knew who he was but Haruka recognised his uniform. Rakuzan. Even though she didn't know who he was, she knew that he was Akashi's new team mate. "Can I help you?" she asked, tilting her head back to look at Mibuchi properly.

"Matsuoka Haruka-san, right? Can I talk to you privately?" he asked. He looked to Chinatsu and gave her a smile that was more creepy than anything. "Please?"

"I'll wait for you at the bus stop," Chinatsu said to Haruka, giving her a concerned look before walking on. She didn't leave, however, without looking back over her shoulder.

Mibuchi waited until Chinatsu was out of sight before turning to look back at Haruka. The smile he had before disappeared and now he looked a little more intimidating. "I won't beat around the bush. I want you to leave Sei-chan."

"What are you? Sei's new boyfriend?"

It took all Mibuchi had to contain his annoyance. He could see why Akashi was so attracted to Haruka. She was definitely not your typical teenage girl who relied on her boyfriend. She was someone who could stand up for herself and was difficult to deal with. Just one comment from her was enough to K.O Mibuchi though he didn't let it show.

"No. But I am Sei-chan's team mate. I don't like how you're affecting Sei-chan. We are here to play in the Winter Cup. We don't need any distractions. Sei-chan definitely doesn't need to be dealing with a girl like you."

"Sei hasn't been dealing with me for almost two years now," Haruka stated. "And if Sei hasn't said anything to me, I don't think you should. Who are you to intervene in our relationship, albeit there is none."

"You have no idea the effect you have on Sei-chan, don't you?"

"I see no point in this conversation. Sei and I broke up almost two years ago. He knows perfectly why we broke up. Seeing as he didn't care back then, I don't see why he's suddenly caring. And if he doesn't care, I certainly do not understand where you come in. What position do you hold to come and talk to me about my relationship with Sei? You're only his team mate, at most his senior."

Mibuchi was annoyed. He was going nowhere with Haruka. If he couldn't get through to her to make her stop distracting Akashi, his captain would continue degrading and that was not okay with Mibuchi. Just like all his other team members, Mibuchi wanted to win. As much as it annoyed him to say so, they probably wouldn't win without Akashi.

Yes, they were strong enough as the Uncrowned Kings but on many occasions this year, it was Akashi who had led them to victory. With Akashi, they could solidify the fact that they would win. But if Akashi was too busy fawning over Haruka, that fact could very easily turn into fiction. And that did not settle well with Mibuchi.

"Reo."

Both Haruka and Mibuchi turned their heads at the same time to see Akashi standing not too far from them. Judging by his expression, both of them guessed that he had just arrived and therefore, did not hear their conversation. Haruka adjusted her bag on her shoulder, looking between the two males. "Excuse me," she said, heading for the bus stop without another word.

Akashi stared after her and frowned. "What were you talking about?"

"Nothing, just saying hi," Mibuchi smiled.

* * *

A/N: Write in the review if you wanna see their cheerleading uniforms! I have yet to design one for Shuutoku and Yosen though.


	23. No Longer His Princess

_Reviews would be appreciated~_

* * *

**It's Love, You Fool**

**GoM x OC**

**No Longer His Princess**

**~.~**

The Winter Cup was taking a toll not only on the players but a certain blonde cheerleader too. Cheering for Seirin at the gymnasium meant that there was a very good chance that Haruka would run into Akashi into. After the reunion with him, and that fateful encounter with Mibuchi, Haruka wasn't looking forward to their next meeting at all.

Fortunately for Haruka, ever since the opening ceremony, she had yet to see any of the Rakuzan players since their matches were different times to Seirin's. However, not being able to see someone didn't mean they weren't there. Just because Haruka wasn't seeing Rakuzan players around didn't mean that she was off their radar.

While she was running errands for her squad (getting coffee), a pair of heterochromatic eyes were following her every move.

Haruka was the first thing Akashi saw as soon as he arrived at the gymnasium. The blonde was carrying a cardboard tray with cups of coffees on it, heading back into the gymnasium. Akashi watched her and subconsciously placed a hand on his heart. It still hurt to see her and Akashi didn't understand why. What he did know was that why was his princess doing mediocre chores.

"Seijuro?"

Akashi's attention was taken away from Haruka for a moment as he laid his eyes on the orange hair girl. Her name was Koizumi Honoka, the daughter of a business partner of his father's, and Rakuzan's newly formed cheerleading squad's captain. Honoka also happened to be the girl his father deemed as appropriate to be Akashi's future wife.

It wasn't as much of an arranged marriage as a suggestion. His father didn't outwardly say that it was a must for Akashi to marry her in the future but it would be beneficial for his family and their business if he were to marry her. Akashi, however, had no intentions of making Honoka Mrs Akashi. She wasn't his princess.

Honoka looked in the direction that Akashi was previously looking in, catching sight of Haruka just before she disappeared into the gymnasium. Honoka knew all about Haruka, considering the amount of time Hayama spent being a fan of Angels and talking about her whenever he was around Akashi. After doing a few researches herself, Honoka found out more about Haruka.

Needless to say, she was not impressed with Akashi's choice in a romantic partner.

"Kotaro, are you done goofing around? Let's go," Akashi said, crossing his arms and walked toward the gymnasium, swiftly ignoring Honoka. Hayama frowned and pointed at himself. He had done nothing wrong this time, being used as Akashi's escape from Honoka.

Honoka watched as Akashi ignored her. She wasn't happy at all. And she knew exactly who was behind it.

~.~

* * *

~.~

As a punishment for a witty comment she had made the other day, Ayane was making Haruka run errands for the entire squad for an entire week. This included when they were at the gymnasium for Winter Cup. After being made to get coffee for the seniors, Haruka was now to go and fill their bottles up before Seirin's match began.

While carrying the empty bottles in her arms, Haruka made her way to find a water fountain. Someone walked into her from behind, bumping into Haruka's shoulder roughly, causing her to drop all the bottles. While picking the bottles up, Haruka felt something cold and wet poured onto her head. Before long, she stunk of coffee.

Dumbfounded, Haruka's first thought was that whoever walked into her accidentally poured their drink on her. However, what happened next changed Haruka's mind.

She looked up, expecting an apology from whoever it was. But instead, she faced an orange hair girl wearing a Rakuzan cheerleading uniform. Haruka narrowed her eyes on the girl, wondering what it was this time. She didn't understand Rakuzan's obsession with her; first was Mibuchi and now this girl. Haruka wished she had never met Akashi and hence, didn't bring this upon herself.

"Oops," the girl smirked though her eyes told a different story. Haruka could see hatred in them. Hatred and anger. "Good thing that wasn't hot, isn't it?" she smiled. "But then again, bad things always happen to people who deserve them, don't you think?"

"Good thing I'm not a karate expert or bad things will be happening to you," Haruka retorted.

"Witty. I don't like witty." Now that Haruka was looking properly, she could see that the girl was holding another cup of coffee in her hand and it definitely wasn't one with ice in it. She popped the lid open and looked down at Haruka, her smirk disappearing altogether to enhance the hatred in her eyes. "That coffee was just a warning. Would you like a proper lesson instead?"

"And why would a princess be sitting on the floor?"

Both girls looked to the side to see a tall young man with slick black hair approaching them. The handsome man had Honoka blushing a little but Haruka frowned slightly. "Tatsu-nii."

"Haha, I told you not to call me that. Being a brother means I would have no chance with the princess," Himuro smiled, helping Haruka up. He searched in his bag before pulling out a towel and handed it to her. "How are you? We never got in touch after you came back to Japan."

"If you don't mind, we were having a conversation," Honoka interrupted, looking to Himuro. At first sight, Himuro was handsome but he wasn't Akashi and so Honoka calmed herself down and went back to her unfinished business with Haruka. "You sure like going around, don't you?" she frowned, narrowing her eyes on Haruka. "Seijuro, Aomine Daiki, Kagami Taiga and now this guy. Do you actually think you're a princess?"

"It wasn't much of a conversation, was it? It looked more like bullying to me," Himuro interjected, looking to Honoka. "Such a pretty face but that's all you'll ever be."

Haruka dried her hair, trying to get rid of the coffee in it while looking to Himuro. This reminded her of their first encounter back in America. The situation was similar being that Haruka was a damsel in distress and Himuro came to her rescue. He was the only Japanese she knew and she depended on him quite a lot back then. Naturally, Himuro became almost like a big brother to Haruka.

Himuro picked up the dropped bottles and handed them to Haruka, placing his hand on her shoulder. "Come on, Haruka," he said, pulling her away from the conversation with Honoka.

Instead of resolving the problem, it only made Honoka despise Haruka even more.

"Tatsu-nii, you really didn't have to do that," Haruka said, filling up the bottles while Himuro stood by her side as if protecting her from Honoka who might appear out of nowhere suddenly.

"I couldn't leave you and let her bully you," Himuro stated. "You never answered my question. How are you?"

"Good."

"You're a cheerleader now? I see, you attend Seirin?"

"There's a guy on the basketball team you might now. Kagami Taiga. He came back from America too."

Himuro looked at Haruka with gentle eyes, nodding a little. "Might have known him," he said. Haruka somehow felt that there was more to 'might have known him' but didn't press for any more information. Before she knew Kagami, Himuro was the only one who sort of understood what Haruka wanted and thought. Their relationship was mutual in the sense that if one didn't tell, the other wouldn't ask.

"It was nice seeing you again, Tatsu-nii," Haruka said, screwing up the last bottle as she picked up the rest. "Good luck."

"See you around."

~.~

Ayane stared at Haruka and she didn't have a pleasant expression on her face at all. Not only was Haruka late from returning with the bottles but she was drenched in coffee. Although Haruka gave her hair a quick wash in the bathroom sink after filling up the bottles, the squad had no spare uniforms on hand. Ayane couldn't let Haruka cheer in her coffee stained uniform either.

"How did you get coffee on you?" Chinatsu asked, suspicious of Haruka's story.

"I told you, some guy accidentally poured it on me when he bumped into me," Haruka stated. "If you don't mind, senpai, I have an idea regarding my uniform."

Haruka knocked on the locker room where Seirin was changing and getting ready for their match. She waited for a while before the door was opened and Riko looked at her, clearly surprised to see Haruka. Especially in her coffee stained uniform.

"May I speak to Kuroko-kun please?"

"Matsuoka-san?"

"I know this might be a little sudden but it's our only solution at the moment. Captain won't let me cheer with this uniform so could I please borrow your white jersey? I know you'll be wearing the black one today."

"May I ask why it must be my jersey?"

"You're the smallest out of the team."

Not very impressed with the answer, Kuroko stared at Haruka blankly. "I'm sorry but I don't have the white one on me."

"I do."

Looking to see who it was, Haruka's eyes met with Kagami's. He held his white jersey in his hand, throwing it to Haruka. There was a reason why she asked Kuroko but if Kagami was offering her his, she had no choice but to take it. A bigger jersey was better than being chewed by Ayane. "Thank you, Kagami-kun," she said.

"Matsuoka-san, is there a reason why your uniform is stained with coffee?" Kuroko asked.

"I'll explain later. Thanks for the jersey," Haruka said, rushing off to get changed.

The game against Kogomo North High was starting soon and the players were on the court while the cheerleaders were standing by the side. Even though the cheerleaders won't be getting on the court, Akashi still caught sight of Haruka. He had found himself wandering to this court. Although he had repeatedly told himself that he was there to observe Seirin's play, Akashi knew that he was only there to see one person.

And that one person he came to see was sitting on the bench wearing a jersey instead of her normal cheerleading uniform. Akashi immediately recognised the number on the jersey but to confirm, he looked onto the court. There he was, wearing a jersey with the number ten on it.

It hurt.

How long had Kagami known her for? Why was Haruka wearing his jersey? Whatever reason it was, did it had to be Kagami's?

It hurt even more when the game ended with Seirin's victory, the cheerleading team ran onto the court after to congratulate the team and the first person Haruka ran to was Kagami. It was a stab in his heart to watch as Haruka threw her arms around Kagami's neck and the male proceeded to put his arm around her waist before swinging her around.

That smile that used to belong to Akashi only was now being shown to another man. Akashi gripped his jersey tightly around his chest and frowned. How could it be that one girl was able to make him feel like this? And it wasn't any girl, it was Haruka. Just her, no one else.

But she was no longer his princess.

"Seijuro?" Once again, Akashi's attention was taken away from Haruka to focus on Honoka. He relaxed his fist, letting go of his jersey and looked at Honoka with an indifferent look. "You're very interested in Seirin. Is there a reason why?"

"An old comrade goes to Seirin," Akashi replied simply. As much as he didn't like her, he didn't want to offend her. Her father was a business partner of his father's and offending her would probably have devastating results. "If they continue with the flow, we'll be playing them in the finals. It's only natural for me to come and take a look at his skills now."

"His?" Honoka raised an eyebrow. "And here I thought Seijuro was here because of _her_." Honoka looked onto the court and pointed her finger at the blonde cheerleader who was retreating with her squad. "After all, it seems like she's everyone's princess."

"I do not understand your intentions of pulling Haruka into this conversation."

"I see nothing special in her," Honoka stated bluntly. Akashi was annoyed but he kept it to himself. Who was she to judge Haruka? "You, a Touou player, that Seirin player and a Yosen player are all so fascinated by her. Why?"

Akashi knew the relationship between Haruka and Aomine. They were definitely not what Honoka said they were. Aomine was simply a childhood friend of Haruka's. Yes, they were close, but Aomine definitely wasn't a threat to Akashi. He was assuming that the Seirin player Honoka mentioned was Kagami and he bothered Akashi.

Akashi didn't know what kind of relationship he had with Haruka and although he hoped that there was none, it seemed like that was impossible. However, he didn't understand how Murasakibara, the only Yosen player Akashi knew had any kind of associations with Haruka, had anything to do with this. Since when was he interested in Haruka too?

"You've seen Atsushi and Haruka together?"

"Not Murasakibara Atsushi," Honoka said. "Some guy your Haruka called Tatsu-nii."

Judging from the nickname, Akashi presumed that this Yosen player that Honoka informed him of was only a brother figure to Haruka. However, he could never let his guard down. He did with Kagami and it didn't turn out so good for him.

Instead of replying, Akashi simply turned and left. Honoka frowned and stay rooted to the ground as she watched Akashi walking away. "She's not yours anymore, Seijuro. When are you going to open your eyes and see that there's someone else for you? She's not your princess anymore!"


	24. Model Couple

_Reviews would be appreciated~_

* * *

**It's Love, You Fool**

**GoM x OC**

**Model Couple**

**~.~**

It was a rare weekend off for Kiyoko.

With the Winter Cup going on, the Angels had postponed their meetings and practices on the weekend. There was no school either so there was no studying for Kiyoko. And although there were matches going on at the gymnasium, Kaijo wasn't playing that day so Kiyoko was enjoying her day off by heading off to the shopping mall.

Except she wasn't.

Instead, Kiyoko was looking for the address on a name card she got a few days ago. After cheering for Kaijo at the Winter Cup, Kiyoko was making her way home when she was approached by someone who apparently was working for a model company and thought that Kiyoko was perfect for their company. She was sceptical about it first but Kiyoko had done her research on the company and it seemed legit.

Either way, she had told her parents and some friends where she was going so if she didn't return, they would know what to do.

After arriving at the company though, Kiyoko knew that it wasn't any kind of scam. First off, the company was smack bang in the middle of Tokyo on a busy street. Secondly, as soon as she walked in, she was greeted by a certain blonde's stupid face on a giant poster.

Kiyoko narrowed at her eyes on the poster of the tall blonde male, recognising his face almost immediately. Of all the companies that could have scouted her, the one that Kise Ryouta worked for got to her.

Ignoring the poster, Kiyoko walked up to reception, showing the receptionist the name card given to her. After confirming that Kiyoko had an appointment, she was told to take the elevator up to the tenth floor for a casual interview/meeting with the scout.

As soon as she entered the elevator though, Kiyoko had an annoyed look on her face. Kise's face was plastered onto the wall of the elevator and even on the door as it closed. Kiyoko kept her head down so she didn't have to look at the blonde's face, praying that the ride on the elevator would end soon. As soon as the door opened, she stepped out quickly.

The man asked for her to come in when Kiyoko knocked on his door. She entered, recognising the man as the scout who approached her. "Good morning," Kiyoko greeted, sitting in the chair in front of his desk.

"Good morning," he smiled, looking up. "Akiyama Kiyoko-san, right? Well, I'm glad that you've decided to come and check us out. Have you ever modelled before?"

"No."

"Do you have experience modelling? Even if it's just playful catwalk with your friends."

"No."

"Um...why don't you tell me more about yourself then?"

Kiyoko wasn't the very sociable type and it was starting to show a little. This was why she hadn't really been able to make any friends and constantly bickered with Haruka since they had similar personalities. "I'm Akiyama Kiyoko, sixteen years old and currently attending Kaijo High School. I don't have any experiences modelling but I'm part of the group, Angels, an online idol dance group. I'm also on my school's cheerleading squad. That's it."

"Did you say Kaijo?"

"Yes, Kaijo."

"Ah, so you must hav-"

"If you're talking about Kise Ryouta, yes, I know his stupid face. We went to the same middle school as well."

The man was obviously not expecting Kiyoko's frank personality. If she wanted the job, Kiyoko knew she should tone it down a little but she really didn't care about the job. If they really wanted her, they would accept her as who she was even if she was difficult to work with.

Before the man could ask her anything else, someone burst into his office, holding a camera in his hand. "We have a situation," the camera man said, sighing loudly. "Kise-kun's partner can't make it today. We can't do the shoot without his partner."

"What? What about replacements? Don't we have replacements for her?"

"The shoot is today! They've all taken other jobs! Where are we going to find a tall blonde around Kise-kun's age?"

The scout immediately looked to Kiyoko who was busy on her phone. When the room fell quiet, Kiyoko looked up to see what was going on to see both men staring at her. Her eyes widened, finally understanding what they wanted. "Oh no...I don't know how to model. I've never had experienced before."

"Don't worry, it's quite a relaxed shoot today," the camera man said, taking Kiyoko's hand. "Come with me."

Without warning, Kiyoko was dragged out of the office room and taken into the elevator. They arrived at the fifth floor where the studio was situated. In the studio, Kise was getting his make-up done while already wearing the clothes needed for the shoot. He noticed Kiyoko when she came in and his eyes widened. "Ki-chan?"

Kiyoko immediately glared at the nickname Kise had adopted for her. "Ask me any questions and I'll pound your face in, pretty boy," she threatened while being pushed away into the changing room.

Still confused, Kise had a frown on his face while staring at the door of the changing room. When Kiyoko came out, he finally realised that she was to be his partner. "Ki-chan, are you modelling too?" he gasped, looking excited. "This is going to be so much fun! Ki-chan and I are going to be the best models in the industry!"

"I don't want to hear your voice," Kiyoko said, holding her hand up to signal for Kise to shut up. Like a well trained puppy, Kise immediately kept quiet as soon as he saw her hand signal. He followed her as they stood in front of the camera and the shoot commences.

As soon as the camera was on him and shooting, Kise's professional model side came out as he was posing naturally. Kiyoko could only watch and even though she was posing, she was stiff and her smile was unnatural. While Kise's individual shots were good, none of Kiyoko's could be used. Kise eventually had to step out so they could take more of Kiyoko's photo.

However, without Kise, she became more stiff and her smile was distorted. The camera man checked the photos before shaking his head. Kise looked over to Kiyoko whose self confidence was obviously beaten down. He put on a smile and went up to her, petting her head. Although tall for girl, Kiyoko was still considerably shorter than Kise.

"It's okay, Ki-chan. Let's do the couple shoot first," Kise said, looking to the camera man. After getting the okay from the camera man, Kise suddenly pulled Kiyoko close, lifting her chin so they were looking into each other's eyes. "Just act naturally. Pretend I'm your boyfriend," Kise smiled.

The shoot continued with Kise leading mostly, keeping Kiyoko close as they posed as a couple. After checking the photos, the camera man was extremely satisfied with the couple shoot. But Kiyoko's individual shoot still posed as a problem. As soon as she was by herself again, Kiyoko became stiff and unnatural. However, this time, she had a certain blonde helper.

Standing behind the camera man, Kise was doing some poses so Kiyoko could copy him. Once she was posing normally, he started making faces at her to make Kiyoko laugh. Although some of the faces weren't that funny, Kiyoko still managed a smile that looked more natural than any smiles she gave the camera that day.

Immersed in making faces, Kise didn't even realised that he was being watched by the staff around him until the camera man took a photo of him. "That's not good, Kise-kun, we won't be able to use photos like this," the camera man smirked, showing Kise the photo on the computer screen.

"Delete it!"

"Hm...maybe we should put this up on the website."

"Delete it!" Kise whined.

Kiyoko giggled a little, watching as Kise was whining to the camera man who was having fun teasing Kise. It was her first time modelling but she had a lot of fun. Kise helped her a lot and Kiyoko was thankful for that. It was also thanks to this photo shoot that Kiyoko got to see Kise's serious side. She had seen him play basketball seriously but both were a different matter.

Somehow, she found the model Kise more charming than when he was on the court.

~.~

"So why are you suddenly here? I never heard of a new model joining our company."

The two models were having lunch together. Since Kiyoko was new, Kise had kindly offered her a tour around the company before heading off to the cafeteria for lunch together. Kiyoko was liking how Kise was in a whole new world when talking about his modelling job. She never thought that she could keep a job before but now, she might just try to keep this one.

"I was scouted on the street," Kiyoko explained, taking a big bite of rice and chewed. "How did you start modelling?"

"My older sisters," Kise smiled. "They used to dress me up in their clothes when I was younger. Then one day, one of them suggested that I try out modelling. It turned out to be fun and I stuck with it since. Plus, I must put my good looks to use after all."

Kiyoko scoffed. Be it how serious Kise could get on the court or in front of the camera, it was this ego of his that Kiyoko couldn't get over. If he was slightly more humble, perhaps (just perhaps), Kiyoko would have a crush on him like all the other girls. But it was because she didn't have this crush on him that Kiyoko was able to be just friends with Kise.

The two blondes were classmates and they sat next to each other in class. Kise would often ask Kiyoko for help with his homework though Kiyoko wasn't that brilliant at studies herself. But thanks to Kiyoko having no special feelings for Kise, he had learnt to be independent and to do his own homework. Not only that but whenever it was his turn for cleaning duty, Kise would now stay back and actually help all because Kiyoko kicked him once after he asked her to take over because he didn't feel like doing it.

And being an avid fan of the Angels, Kise had given a lot of valuable advice to Kiyoko which she would then relay to the other Angels. If she had to choose, Kiyoko would choose Kise as her best friend from school.

"Are you going to stick with modelling then, Ki-chan?" Kise asked.

"It's not that bad," Kiyoko shrugged.

"I have a feeling I'll be working a lot with Ki-chan from now on," Kise grinned.

~.~

* * *

~.~

As if Kise's prediction was the prophecy, Kiyoko got a call from the modelling company. They first asked her to be a permanent staff so she would be working and modelling for them. The second thing they asked from her was if she was free the next weekend to do another shoot with Kise. Not only that but her mother had came into her room questioning her about the new magazine that came out.

The cover of the magazine was one of the photos from Kise and Kiyoko's couple shoot. Kiyoko snatched the magazine out of her mother's hand, staring at the cover. There was even a small article written about them.

**KISE AND AKIYAMA...THE NEW BEST MODEL COUPLE?**


	25. Maiu-Bo Girl

_Reviews would be appreciated~_

* * *

**It's Love, You Fool**

**GoM x OC**

**Maiu-Bo Girl**

**~.~**

With Kagami's apartment key still in her possession, Haruka had decided to visit his apartment before going to the Winter Cup together with him. Haruka used the key to get herself in but the sight that met her was definitely not something Haruka was expecting.

Standing in front of her when she opened the door was a tall, blonde, foreigner. Naked.

Haruka stared at the woman who was just as surprised to see Haruka. Preparing food in the kitchen, Kagami looked up to see Haruka in his apartment. He froze and his first reaction was to grab some clothes from the laundry basket and threw them at the naked woman. "Put on your clothes!" he shouted at her. He looked at Haruka with a bright red face, trying to come up with some excuse.

"I told you not to throw clothes at me, Taiga!"

Surprised that the woman spoke Japanese, Haruka was now very intrigued with the foreign woman. So this was Kagami's type? "Ah...seems like I've come at the wrong time," Haruka said, looking to Kagami. "I just came to return your key, Kagami-kun. I'll be on my way then."

"Oh don't go~" the foreign woman smiled, pulling on a shirt that Kagami threw at her. She walked up to Haruka and slung her arm on the blonde girl's shoulders which made Kagami panic. "Oh, you're quite a cutie, aren't you?"

"Alex, don't!"

Ignoring Kagami's cries, the woman Kagami called Alex leaned in to kiss Haruka. Haruka held Kagami's apartment key in between them, stopping Alex's kiss. "I only came to return Kagami-kun's key and to pick him up for Winter Cup," she said, looking to Kagami. "You're playing Yosen today, aren't you?"

"Oh, Tatsuya!" Alex chirped. "You didn't tell me you're playing him today."

"Not that you didn't know already," Kagami muttered.

"Tatsu-nii?"

Both Alex and Kagami looked at Haruka when she mentioned Himuro's name. Kagami knew that Haruka studied in America for a while but he didn't think that she would have met Himuro there. "You know Tatsuya?" Alex asked, looking to Kagami. "Is that how you know Taiga too? Oh wait...I would have known though..."

"Kagami-kun and I met in school here in Japan. I didn't know you knew Tatsu-nii."

"We used to play basketball together, nothing major," Kagami said quickly. "Winter Cup. Let's go."

~.~

* * *

~.~

Kaoru rubbed her hands together before blowing hot air into them. The other cheerleaders from Seirin were already inside, preparing. She excused herself by saying that she needed the bathroom but really, Kaoru was standing by the entrance of the gymnasium, braving the weather so she could see him again.

It was a shame that they would see each other again under these circumstances. Their schools were playing each other after all. More importantly though, would he remember her? They never interacted a lot in middle school apart from the few lunch time encounters but Kaoru never forgot him. That tall, purple-haired male.

Yosen wasn't a hard team to spot. All the members were tall with three of them being the taller players in the whole of Winter Cup. As soon as she spotted them, Kaoru started to approach them. She could see him already and she felt her heart beating fast.

_Please let him remember me_

Unlike their previous encounter, Murasakibara did not miss Kaoru and actually stopped as she approached him. He definitely remembered who she was. The shorty who would on several occasions try to steal his Maiu-bos.

"Hi..." Kaoru smiled softly, tilting her head back to look up at Murasakibara. "Um...I just want to wish you good luck," she said, holding a Maiu-bo up for him. Murasakibara eyed the Maiu-bo and took it from her hand. He wasn't going to say no to a snack, especially a Maiu-bo. "See you at the game," Kaoru squealed, running off into the building.

Himuro stared after Kaoru and smiled a little, looking at his junior who was now happily munching into the Maiu-bo he received. "That could be poisoned, Atsushi. She's from Seirin after all."

"She won't," Murasakibara stated simply. "She's Maiu-bo girl. She wouldn't poison me."

"Seems like she has a crush on you," Wei Liu said, staring after Kaoru. "She's short."

"A girl has a crush on Murasakibara?! Why, does she think he's sweet?" Fukui joked.

"Oh, Haru-chin."

They were all distracted as Murasakibara pointed over to a girl that he recognised. Still carrying out her punishment for back talking to her captain, Haruka was carrying cups of coffee in a cupboard tray while some people held the doors opened for her as she walked past. Himuro looked at the small blonde girl with a smile before looking to Murasakibara.

"Atsushi went to the same school as her, didn't you?" he asked. Murasakibara nodded in reply. "She's truly a princess with all the knights protecting her."

~.~

The atmosphere was tense. Kaoru watched as Yosen lost to Seirin by a single point. She was shocked when Murasakibara stated that he was going to quit basketball but was even more shocked to find him crying about the lost. She left her own squad and went after Yosen after the players left the court. She was starting to panic a little when she couldn't find them until she finally spotted the tall male.

"Murasakibara-kun!"

With a towel around his head to hide the fact that he was still crying, Murasakibara stopped when he heard someone calling his name. He didn't turn, however. He didn't want whoever it was to see him crying.

"Murasakibara-kun..." Kaoru panted softly, looking up at it. "It's okay...losing the game, it's not the end."

Murasakibara suddenly whipped around and grabbed Kaoru by the neck, slamming her against the wall. Losing the game was not the end? What was she saying? Her school was Seirin, of course it was fine for her to say such words. They didn't lose. With those thoughts in mind, Murasakibara gripped tighter around Kaoru's neck.

It wasn't hard at all. His hand was huge compared to her small neck. But then when he saw Kaoru struggling to gasp for air, Murasakibara's eyes widened and he dropped her.

"I'm sorry...just...go."

Coughing, Kaoru was gasping in air. Her eyes were wide from shock. She didn't expect that from Murasakibara. His eyes were scary for a moment when he grabbed her by the neck. Kaoru could see it in his eyes; despair and anger. There was also a hint of hatred in there. She couldn't move even when Murasakibara told her to go. She was frozen with fear.

Murasakibara frowned, looking down at Kaoru. Somehow, it hurt to see her in this state. He reached down to touch her gently on the head. As soon as he made contact though, Kaoru screamed. She swatted his hand away before scrambling onto her feet and ran off.

Murasakibara stared after her and looked down at his hands. He just tried to choke her, of course she would be scared of him. But really, what he was thinking of was how he could have done that to her.

~.~

* * *

~.~

Looking for Himuro to talk after Yosen had lost, Haruka found herself tangled in trouble she never thought she would get into.

"Tatsu-nii!"

What Haruka was witnessing honestly scared her. She recognised Himuro's attacker. He used to attend Teiko as well and was on the basketball team too. But what she didn't understand was why Haizaki was attacking Himuro. First of all, Himuro didn't do anything to provoke him. Secondly, he was a player which meant that if he was caught, not only was he in trouble but he might drag his team down.

Hearing Haruka's voice, Haizaki turned his head a little and laid his eyes on her. "Oi, oi, pretty popular now, aren't we?" he smirked, looking at Himuro. "I know you. You're the one they call Haru-Haru. Ah...you used to go to Teiko, didn't you? Why didn't I go out with you before?" While talking, Haizaki was slowly walked up to Haruka.

That was when Alex stepped in, standing in between Haizaki and Haruka. "Don't you even think about it, brat." Not happy that Alex was getting in his way, Haizaki suddenly grabbed Alex by the neck, lifting her up.

"Alex-san!"

"Don't come near!" Alex shouted to Haruka.

It was too late. Haruka's first instinct wasn't to protect herself. Himuro was already down and now Alex was being attacked because she was protecting Haruka. As soon as Haruka got close enough, Haizaki reached out with his arm, attempting to grab her too. Haruka's reflex saved her as she did a back handspring, kicking Haizaki's arm at the same time.

"Alex!" Kagami, who had just arrived, caught Haruka as she tried to stable herself before glaring at Haizaki. "Who the hell are you? Let her go now!"

"Let me go, you fucking brat!" Alex kicked her leg at Haizaki's head, obviously not caring if she really did kick him in the head. Haizaki ducked and let go of Alex, frowning slightly.

Kagami went in to attack Haizaki but he was stopped by Himuro who reminded Kagami that he was still a player in the Winter Cup. "Are you okay, Haruka?" Himuro asked, looking to the blonde girl. Haruka nodded and looked to Alex who gave her a reassuring look.

That was when she saw Kaoru running out from the building. Not looking where she was going, Kaoru was running straight into Haizaki. "Kaoru-san!" Haruka frowned, trying to stop the girl but she was too late. Kaoru bumped into Haizaki and he glared down at her.

About to hurt Kaoru, Haizaki was interrupted when a basketball flew at him. Taking her chance, Haruka ran up to Kaoru and quickly pulled the other girl away from the violence. "Kaoru-san, are you okay?" Haruka asked, frowning slightly.

Kaoru was crying but Haruka knew that she couldn't possibly be hurt because Haizaki never got a chance to lay a finger on her. As scary as Haizaki could be, Kaoru wasn't the type who would start cry out of fear and it didn't look like she just started crying either. Haruka wiped Kaoru's tears for her, wondering if she should ask her what was wrong.

"Kaoru-san...are you okay?" she repeated. Kaoru looked up without a word, tears still flowing down her cheek. That was when Haruka noticed the redness on Kaoru's neck as a bruise was forming. "Kaoru-san, what happened?" she frowned, taking a better look at her neck. "Who did this to you?"

"M-Murasakibara-kun..."

"Mura-kun?"

"Atsushi?"

The Haizaki issue was 'resolved' after Kise's appearance and overhearing their conversation, Himuro came up to the girls. He went on one knee with a serious look on his face. Telling Kaoru to relax, Himuro took a look at her neck where there was indeed a bruise. He frowned and looked at Kaoru straight in the eyes.

"Atsushi really did this to you?" Kaoru nodded, gripping onto Haruka. "That's not like Atsushi..."

"He couldn't take losing and took his anger out on a girl?" Kagami frowned, joining the trio.

"I'm telling you, this isn't like Atsushi," Himuro said. He looked at Kaoru and gave her an apologetic look. "I apologise on behalf of Atsushi but I assure you he didn't mean to do this to you. He's not himself. I'll have a talk with him and make sure he comes to you personally to apologise. Haruka, you'll take care of her, won't you?"

Haruka nodded in reply.

"I'll leave them to you now, Taiga."


	26. Square One

_Reviews would be appreciated~_

* * *

**It's Love, You Fool**

**GoM x OC**

**Square One**

**~.~**

"I still think you should tell Haruka."

Mrs Matsuoka held her husband's suit in her hands while he slipped his arms into the sleeves and put the suit on. He smoothed it out and fixed the collar while his wife stood in front of him, doing his tie for him. Being a basketball player, it was rare that Hayato got to wear a suit. He only ever wore one for official events and/or important days. Still, he had not learnt how to do his own tie and relied on his wife for that.

Why was he wearing a suit then? And what did it have to do with Haruka?

As a national basketball player, Hayato felt that it was about time for him to retire from playing. As much as he was going to miss the court, his age wasn't being so generous with energy for his body. So instead of being a player himself, Hayato had decided to train players and make his own team. And what better opportunity to recruit young, enthusiastic players than the Winter Cup?

With the semi-finals finally in place, Hayato decided to take a look at the players. He had yet to tell Haruka that he would be appearing at the Winter Cup and although his wife was worrying, Hayato was not stressing at all. For a long while, Haruka and Hayato had been going about their businesses without poking their noses in the other's business. He would like for it to keep that way.

"It's too late now. She's at the gymnasium already," Hayato stated, fixing his sleeves and looked at his wife. "She won't even care that I'll be there."

"Hayato..." his wife sighed softly. She gripped onto his suit and looked into his eyes. "I love you. And I love Haruka. I really can't bear to see father and daughter live the rest of their lives not talking or bothering with each other. Who's going to walk her down the aisle in the future if you're not going to be bothered with her?"

Hayato kissed her forehead and stroked her hair. His wife was right. He couldn't live the rest of his life not having his daughter love him. Hayato knew it was his fault things turned out this way but it was too late for him to do anything, was it not? Haruka was a teenager after all and it was hard to change a teenager's way of thinking.

"I promise I'll fix things," he whispered, holding her face in his hands and kissed her forehead. "I need to get going now. I'll come home with Haruka today."

~.~

* * *

~.~

Haruka poked her straw into her juice box and sat on the bench with the rest of her squad, watching as the Kaijo cheerleading squad had the court. For some reason, the game was taking a lot longer than usual to start. Seirin had already done their routine and Kaijo was coming near to the end of theirs yet there was no announcement about the game starting.

Something even stranger then happened. As Kaijo's cheerleading squad finished their routine, Rakuzan and Shuutoku were standing by the side of the court as if they were waiting for something to happen. Everyone was confused and started looking at each other. Not even the two schools who had joined the court knew why they were there.

That was when a staff member of the organisation who managed the Winter Cup stepped onto the court, walking right up to the middle. He held a microphone in his hand and cleared his throat to get the attention of everyone.

"Before we begin with the semi-finals of the Winter Cup, we would like to welcome Mr Matsuoka Hayato." Haruka's eyes widened and nearly choked on her juice box. What was her father doing at the Winter Cup? She didn't even know that he was in Tokyo. "As you all know, Mr Matsuoka is a national basketball player. He has announced his retirement from playing the sport but wishes to start his own basketball team which is why he is here today at the Winter Cup. He will be recruiting players from the Winter Cup."

Haruka narrowed her eyes on her father as he walked up to the court to say a few words. She didn't even know what he was talking about because she couldn't hear a single word he said. All she could think about was why was he there. She was finally able to get rid of the title as Matsuoka Hayato's daughter but he had ruined that.

"Matsuoka? Is he related to you?" Ayane asked, looking at the younger cheerleader who didn't reply. Ayane narrowed her eyes on Haruka and smacked her head. "Speak when you're spoken to. Forget it. You can't be Matsuoka Hayato's daughter."

"Haruka's his daughter," Chinatsu chimed. Haruka almost felt like strangling Chinatsu but restrained herself from doing so. Why did she have to tell others? "Haruka's the daughter of the famous Matsuoka Hayato."

Ayane eyed Haruka, not really interested in the matter anymore. "Huh...could have fooled me," she muttered.

Ayane was the first person who wasn't Haruka's friend yet wasn't interested in the fact that Haruka was Hayato's daughter. Most people would have been flocking around Haruka, asking her a million questions that she didn't know the answer to.

Instead of sticking around to see what her father had to say, Haruka got up from the bench and started packing her bag. She pulled on her sweatshirt and trousers and put her bag on her shoulder. Ayane asked where she was going but Haruka didn't give her an answer. Chinatsu pulled Ayane back, saying that she would explain later.

That was the last thing Haruka heard because as she walked out, she put her earphones in and blasted her music on full volume. She needed something to block out her father's voice, all the noise around her and even her own thoughts.

While making his speech, Hayato noticed his daughter sitting with Seirin's cheerleading squad. This was the first time in a long while he had a good look at her. Did she always frown like she was now? When she got up to leave, Hayato knew deep down that it was because of him. It kind of broke his heart that his own daughter couldn't bear to be in the same room as him for more than ten minutes.

Then, Hayato saw it.

A young man wearing a Rakuzan jersey with red hair leaving right after Haruka did. Was that her boyfriend? No, his wife told him that they broke up. Was that young man the reason why Haruka was so willing to move to America two years ago? Although he hadn't seen his daughter smile in a while, that was the time when Haruka was the saddest. Even Hayato couldn't have possibly caused her that much pain.

As soon as his speech ended, Hayato handed the microphone over to the staff member and went after his daughter. Recruiting could wait but his daughter couldn't. He wasn't going to let Mr Red-head hurt her again.

Outside, Haruka was walking on, not giving a care as she did. She waited at a crossing and took a step out when she thought it was safe. Someone grabbed her around the elbow and pulled her back as a car sped by. She was pulled into a hug and Haruka didn't even have to look up to know who it was who had saved her life.

Many times before, he had yanked her back from being run over by a car.

Haruka's first instinct was to close her eyes. Just like at the festival, she didn't want to look at him. She wouldn't be able to stop herself if she did and she was doing so well at resisting him. Their reunion at the opening ceremony of the Winter Cup was proof enough that Haruka wouldn't be able to resist him if she was to open her eyes now.

"You've never changed," Akashi said, putting his hand on her head and pressed her close to his body, holding her tightly in his arms. "Still so reckless when you cross the road."

"Please...let me go. Why did you come after me anyway?"

"Because I knew this was going to happen. You still avoid your father like he's diseased."

"That's none of your business."

"Have you ever thought of giving him a chance?"

Haruka opened her eyes at that. Giving her father a chance? Or was Akashi using her father as an excuse to really talk about himself. She couldn't resist anymore.

As soon as Haruka looked up, she pressed her lips against him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down a little so she was more comfortable. The kiss only deepened when Akashi started kissing back. Haruka missed this. Everything that happened before was wiped out of her mind. All she cared about now was having Akashi in her arms.

Except that didn't last for long.

The couple was pulled away from each other forcefully by a very irritated Hayato. His daughter was making out with a guy in the middle of the street. Hayato didn't even know who he was. Was this the punk who broke his daughter's heart?

"Who is he, Haruka?" Hayato questioned. He glared at Akashi and narrowed his eyes on the red head teenager. "You're the punk who broke my daughter's heart, aren't you? What are you trying to do? Get back with her?" Hayato was interrogating Akashi, grilling him almost. But Akashi fazed at all.

"Akashi Seijuro," he said. "With all due respect sir, what makes you think that you can stop Haruka if she wanted to get back with me? I am your daughter's ex-boyfriend which also means that I know all about. I know that you've never really been much of a father to Haruka so what gives you the right to poke your nose into her business now and act like a father?"

Having her father and ex-boyfriend argue was a bit too much for Haruka. Akashi wouldn't give a damn about Hayato being Haruka's father, he would just say whatever was on his mind. Even though Hayato hadn't been much of a father to Haruka, when he was there, he was the most protective father ever. As the two argued, Haruka frowned. "Stop it!"

She didn't know what was happening anymore. Her father was suddenly coming back and being the father that he should have been many years ago to Haruka. Out of nowhere, Akashi suddenly wanted her back. It was almost as if Haruka was back to square one. But she couldn't just pretend that both men never hurt her.

Both men looked at her and stopped arguing with each other.

"I'm going home," Haruka said.

"I'll take you home," Hayato stated. "I promised your mother that I'll go home with you today."

Haruka didn't even realise that she was holding onto Akashi's hand until she was walking away. She let go of his hand and Akashi let her go. Hayato walked behind Haruka, keeping her out of Akashi's sight. As soon as they were out of sight, Hayato started questioning Haruka.

"Who is he?"

With Akashi's advice on giving her father a chance, Haruka decided to answer. "Akashi Seijuro, Rakuzan's captain and point guard. Like you."

"Like me?"

Hayato never expected Haruka to be speaking in basketball terms. Just a year ago, she didn't even know that there were different positions in basketball. She thought everyone just threw the ball around and scored whenever they had the chance. Now she was able to tell what position Hayato played. He placed a hand on her head and smiled.

"Can you tell me about the guy with red hair on your team?"

"Kagami Taiga, Seirin's power forward."

"Can you tell me who's been teaching you basketball? Is it Daiki?"

"That's enough talking for today."


	27. Everyone Leaves

_Reviews would be appreciated~_

* * *

**It's Love, You Fool**

**GoM x OC**

**Everyone Leaves**

**~.~**

It was cold outside and being in only her cheerleading uniform, Kaoru couldn't wait to get inside the gymnasium. However, the crowd of people that were heading the same way was delaying her. She knew she shouldn't have gone to get herself something to eat but she skipped breakfast and Ayane insisted that she wasn't going to cheer empty stomach.

"Maiu-bo girl."

Kaoru froze on the spot.

She knew the nickname and she knew the owner of the voice. Images from her memory was flashing through her mind and Kaoru frowned, putting her hand on her neck where she last felt his hand was. Kaoru didn't even turn her head to look at the tall, purple-haired male as she took off, pushing through the crowd. "Maiu-bo girl!"

"Kaoru-san!"

Kaoru stopped herself just in time before she crashed into Haruka who was carrying a tray of coffee, an errand that she had yet to get rid of since she ran out on cheering when her father appeared at the Winter Cup. Haruka managed to Kaoru as well, taking a step back. "Sorry, Haruka-san..." Kaoru frowned, the fear on her face still apparent.

"Are you okay?" Haruka asked.

"I saw him..."

"Saw who?"

"Murasakibara-kun."

Haruka understood what was going on and nodded at her. She didn't ask anything else and they headed back to the squad together. Haruka distributed the coffee she bought before going back to her position on the bench. A note was stuck on the bench and Haruka frowned, looking around to see if there was anyone around who would leave her a note.

No one was near her so Haruka picked up the note and read it over.

_Please come to this address on Saturday. _

_A.S_

_A.S_... Haruka didn't have to be a genius to figure out who that person was. But it was a little odd that he would just leave a note like that for her to discover instead of coming up to her and talk. But nonetheless, Haruka got the note. She even decided to go to this place that he wrote the address down.

~.~

* * *

~.~

Following the address, Haruka arrived at what looked like a hotel. She asked at the reception where the ballroom was and was pointed in the direction of it. She followed the directions and walked into the ballroom. Almost immediately, she knew she was out of place.

Everyone in the ballroom was dressed really fancy; men in suits and women in gowns. Haruka stood out wearing a pair of jeans with a t-shirt. She had a messenger bag on her shoulder and her hair was tied up. Why didn't Akashi tell her that this was a formal event? And why did Akashi invite her in the first place?

Haruka decided to look around the ballroom for him, pushing past several people and apologised while she did. Several of them asked her to bring them food or drinks, thinking that she was one of the servers. She ignored them and finally found Akashi who was standing next to another man who looked remarkably like Akashi.

They were talking to another man who was next to Honoka. As Haruka approached them, their conversation was overheard by her. "...well aren't they a perfect match?" the man next to Honoka laughed. "Captain of the basketball team and captain of the cheerleading squad. My Honoka is made for your Seijuro."

"Daddy!" Honoka giggled. "Seijuro is too good for me."

"Ridiculous! Why else would I have you marry him then?"

Haruka gripped the strap of her bag. Did Akashi invite her to show her this? To show her his high class lifestyle that she would never fit in and to show her that he chose Honoka over her?

As if he had a sixth sense, Akashi turned his head slightly to the side. His eyes widened a little when he saw Haruka and he frowned immediately, staring at her. He excused himself and walked over to her, pulling her to one side but Haruka refused to move. Now he was too ashamed to be seen with her?

"What are you doing here, Haruka?"

"You invited me."

"I never invited you, Haruka. This is my father's company annual dinner party, not a personal party."

"Whatever you say then, _Akashi_," Haruka frowned, narrowing her eyes on him. She had never called him just by his surname before. "Because I've seen enough of what you want me to see. I'm not good enough for you, is that what you're trying to telling me? I'm not good enough for the Akashi name and you've chosen her."

Haruka pointed at Honoka who was approaching the two with a smile on her face. "Seijuro? Your father is wondering what's taking you so long," she said before giving Haruka the look over. "He's not happy that we have an uninvited guest."

"_Sei_ and I are talking," Haruka hissed.

Honoka didn't look at all threatened by Haruka. Instead, she had a triumphant smirk on her face. She even linked her arm with Akashi's and tugged on it tightly when he tried to pull away. "Oh really? Well, _Seijuro_ and I have very important matters to discuss with our fathers. You know, about our engagement."

"It was you, you bitch!" Haruka frowned. "You left that note!" Haruka didn't know what overcame her but before she knew it, she was lunging at Honoka. Fortunately, Akashi grabbed her before she could lay a finger on Haruka. "Let me go!"

"Haruka, I would like you to leave please," Akashi said.

Still angry, Haruka stared at Akashi with big eyes. He would like her to leave? Akashi was defending the bitch who was trying to come in between them? She chewed on her bottom lip, furious that Honoka was winning while Haruka was acting like a crazy, obsessed ex-girlfriend.

She pushed Akashi away and adjusted her clothes and bag. "Have a nice day, _Akashi_."

"We will~" Honoka smirked, waving to Haruka as she turned to leave. She clung onto Akashi as a last act to piss Haruka off though the blonde girl pretended she didn't see anything.

Staring after Haruka, Akashi was starting to regret that he had asked her to leave but it was the right thing to do. Once Haruka was out of sight, he yanked his arm away from Honoka and glared at her. "If you poke your nose into my business with Haruka again, I will make sure that you won't be able to stand on your feet, let alone cheer. Do you understand?"

~.~

_Ding Dong~_

Kagami looked up from his stove, a little frantic. He quickly turned off the stove and put his food on a plate before wiping his hands on his apron and went to open the door. Haruka with a very red face stumbled into his apartment without being invited. Kagami caught her before she hit the ground and frowned slightly.

Before he could ask her what was going on, Haruka looked up and wrapped her arms around his neck. She pulled him down and pressed her lips against his. She pushed him while kissing him at the same time and they both ended up on the sofa with Haruka on top of Kagami. She only pulled away from the kiss to attempt to get Kagami's shirt off.

Kagami's face went bright red and he grabbed Haruka's hand, sitting up immediately. Haruka frowned and leaned forward to try and kiss him again but Kagami avoided her lips. "Wh-what are you doing?"

"Don't you want me, Kagami-kun? Say you want me."

Haruka's words were rather slurred. It took Kagami a while to fully understand what she was saying. "Haruka...are you drunk?" Kagami frowned. Careful not to let her kiss him again, Kagami leaned in and smelt Haruka's breath. "You're drunk! Haruka, you're under age! Where did you even get alcohol?"

"I didn't drink..." Haruka frowned, shaking her head and it gradually became a violent shaking until Kagami stopped her. "Choco...chocolate. You know...it makes people happy..."

"How did you get drunk from chocolate? Did they sell you chocolate with alcohol inside?"

Haruka started shaking her head again and if she shook it any harder, it was going to fall off. "Fan...prezzie..." she muttered, closing her eyes. "Kagami-kun...why?" she asked, frowning at him. "Why doesn't he want me?"

"Who?"

"I knew this was going to happen," she whispered, resting her head on Kagami's shoulder. "Everyone leaves...they never stick around," she mumbled. "Dad leaves...he left. Even you, Kagami-kun..."

"Are you talking about Akashi?"

"Ssh!" Haruka frowned, putting her finger on Kagami's lips. "I hate basketball players, Kagami-kun...so much..."

"I think you really love basketball players."

"No!" Haruka argued. "I hate basketball players! I hate basketball! It took away my father! Then it took him away. My Sei...he's not my Sei anymore..." she cried. "Not mine anymore..."

As Kagami was trying to find the right words to comfort Haruka with, the blonde suddenly retched and threw up all over Kagami. Kagami groaned loudly and frowned, cursing under his breath. After her deed, Haruka went unconscious.

While Haruka was knocked out, Kagami was trying to think of what to do with Haruka. How could she get drunk from that tiny bit of alcohol in chocolate? And who the hell would give chocolate with alcohol in it to an under age unofficial idol? And why was Haruka stupid enough to eat something given to her by a stranger?

Many questions were running through Kagami's minds, most of them not making sense to him at all. In the end, he placed Haruka on the sofa without getting any of her sick on her as he tried his best to move to the bathroom where he cleaned himself up. After he changed, he went to get Haruka and carried her into his room, putting her in bed.

~.~

* * *

~.~

Haruka rolled in the bed and hit something, groaning softly. Her head was hurting her and whatever she hit just moved. She frowned slightly and opened one eye. Alex's face was right next to her and Haruka screamed, falling out of bed. She froze from the pain coming from her head and groaned loudly.

The door opened and Kagami came running in, thinking something had happened. Haruka was on the floor while Alex was woken up by Haruka's scream as well, sitting up in the bed. Like she always was, Alex was naked. She rubbed her eyes and looked over to Haruka sleepily before letting out a yawn and stretched her arms.

The duvet fell off her body, revealing her bare body to Kagami. His first reaction was his usual reaction. Which was to shout and throw clothes at Alex. "Put some clothes on!" Kagami shouted, throwing Alex's clothes in her face.

"So mean...I told you not to throw them at me," Alex said.

"Well if you learn to wear your clothes, I wouldn't have to shout!"

"But it's so much more comfortable without any clothes. Haruka-chan likes it too~"

"Don't drag Haruka into this! This is Japan, not America! Even if it's America, you shouldn't be naked in someone else's home!"

A blood chilling scream suddenly came from Haruka. Both Kagami and Alex were startled as they stared at Haruka with wide eyes, suddenly afraid of the somewhat demonic looking Haruka. The scream from herself, however, wasn't helping Haruka's hangover. She was trying to stop Kagami and Alex from shouting at each other so her headache could be relieved but she only made it worse.

She didn't scream for long and soon collapsed on Kagami's floor, groaning with a croaky voice. While the other two were still stunned, Haruka crawled back to Kagami's bed and climbed on after much difficulty. She pushed Alex to the side and curled up in the bed, pulling the duvet over her head.

"She's just like me when I'm drunk!" Alex laughed.


	28. 5 Years Later

_Reviews would be appreciated~_

* * *

**It's Love, You Fool**

**GoM x OC**

**5 Years Later**

**~.~**

Haruka looked at her reflection in the mirror, touching up her make-up. She adjusted the small crown on her head when the door to her changing room opened.

"Are you ready?"

A deep breath was taken in and Haruka looked at herself in the mirror, doing one last check before getting up and smoothing out the dress that she was wearing. With a big white dress on, Haruka was having slight difficulty walking in it and had to kick the dress from underneath in order for her to move her feet. And wearing six inches heels was not helping at all.

At age twenty-one, this was an important day to Haruka. The day she wore her very first wedding dress.

"She's coming!"

Given a bouquet, Haruka finally made her way out. She headed to stand in front of the camera while her stylists were fixing her dress, making sure nothing was folded back on itself or creased. With one last make-up and hair check, Haruka was finally ready for the camera.

~.~

* * *

~.~

_Eyes were on her as the opening ceremony proceeded. There were only two reasons as to why people were staring at her. Reason one would be that they were fans of basketball and recognised Haruka from various magazines that featured her as 'Matsuoka Hayato's daughter'. Reason two would be that they were fans of Angels that was still an ongoing online idol group._

_Either reason, it didn't affect Haruka much. She was much too adjusted to this lifestyle to be affected anymore. She was just glad that no one had come up to her to talk about those two things yet._

_As the opening ceremony went on, only one thing was on Haruka's mind. Not even the staring had caught her attention. Somehow, she had ended up applying for Kyoto University. With no particular interest, her grades had managed to get her into Law. _

_She didn't know where he had applied to but if he was to apply for Kyoto University as well, Haruka was sure that he wouldn't choose a law degree anyway. And if they were in different faculty, their chances of meeting would be minimal. And the campus was big enough that they would probably never meet anyway. Which was what Haruka was hoping for._

_With the opening ceremony ending, the first year students were finally allowed to explore the campus and look at the various clubs that were available for them. As soon as she was out, Haruka was immediately overwhelmed by the warm welcoming of her seniors. She had been recruited into many clubs although she had denied joining all of them._

_Her relationship with her father had improved dramatically over the years and her deal with her mother was no longer. She need not join a club to get out of family dinners. _

_Not interested in any clubs, Haruka found a quieter place where she sat down by herself and checked her phone. She had several unread messages and a few missed calls. Almost all the missed calls were from Chinatsu and the messages were to congratulate her on getting into Kyoto University from her friends._

**_From: Hamasaki Chinatsu_**

**_To: Matsuoka Haruka_**

**_Subject: Guess what?!_**

**_OMG, my manager just told me that my company wants you to join our company! You can be an idol with me, Haruka! Isn't that so exciting? Call me so I can tell you the details!_**_  
_

~.~

* * *

~.~

Under Chinatsu's guidance, Haruka had become a well known idol. Aside from her performing job, her manager had taken up quite a few adverts for Haruka and one of them was a wedding dress shoot.

It was her first time wearing a wedding dress and Haruka would be lying if she said she wasn't excited to see herself in one. After photos of each dress were taken, Haruka would be the first to rush to the laptop to view the photos taken. If only she was wearing the dress for real.

"Matsuoka-san, it's time," her manager said, pointing to his watch.

Haruka grabbed his wrist and checked the time. It was indeed time to leave. With enough photos for each dress, Haruka was allowed to go. She changed out of the wedding dress and into a bridesmaid dress, having her hair and make-up redone by her stylists before she left.

Making her own way to the location, Haruka was most likely late for the ceremony. She already told Chinatsu that she would be late because this shoot was scheduled months before Chinatsu announced her wedding and made Haruka her maid of honour. However, when her phone buzzed, it wasn't a message from Chinatsu like she had expected.

**From: Taiga**

**To: Matsuoka Haruka**

**Subject: Where are you?**

_Where are you, Haruka? The ceremony's about to start._

**From: Haruka**

**To: Kagami Taiga**

**Subject: Re: Where are you?**

_I'm on my way. Five more minutes._

True to her words, Haruka arrived five minutes later and was rushing to the wedding. She got there just on time as Chinatsu was getting ready to walk down the aisle. So, Haruka rushed down the aisle and stood at the end, taking in a deep breath to calm herself down.

Standing adjacent to her was her childhood best friend. Walking down the aisle was her high school best friend. Haruka never thought she was see the day when Aomine would get married. She never even thought that Aomine would bring himself to propose to a girl although the version of the story she heard was that Chinatsu practically forced Aomine to.

As the wedding ceremony began, from the corner of her eyes, Haruka thought she saw someone familiar. Could it be? It wouldn't be surprising that he was invited to Aomine's wedding. But after six years of not meeting or communicating in any way, meeting him here again could be very awkward for Haruka. However, she ignored the feeling and concentrated on the wedding happening in front of her.

~.~

Haruka wobbled over to a chair and plopped herself down, groaning softly. Not long after, someone joined her at the same table. Kagami looked at Haruka with a wide smile and she smiled back. Naturally, she lifted her legs and placed it on Kagami's lap while Kagami took her heels off for her, massaging her feet.

"Your love for six inches heels will kill you one day."

"Shut up," Haruka smiled, leaning back in her chair while Kagami continued massaging her piggies. "I've been wearing those for an entire day now..." she mumbled softly. "If only I fell in love with trainers instead..."

Across the hall where the reception was being held, a certain red head had spotted the couple sitting at the table. His eyes narrowed at the fact that the male was giving the female a massage for her feet. What irked him even more was the fact that she was smiling and laughing at him. It had been so long since he had seen her so happy.

Was she happy without him?

"Akashi-kun, is it?" Akashi turned around and saw a tall male standing in front of him. He knew who he was. Himuro Tatsuya, an ex-player for Yosen and now was a team member of Hayato's basketball Team, the Knights. "I'm surprised you have time to come to a wedding like this since your company is doing so well."

"It's only right for me to attend the wedding of an old comrade."

"Oh yes, you were there for Atsushi's wedding too," Himuro said before following Akashi's line of sight. "Perhaps we will be attending Taiga's wedding soon."

"Is there something you want to say to me?"

Akashi wasn't liking the beating around the bush conversation. Was Himuro trying to say something to him? Over the years, Akashi had heard a lot of words that mostly criticised him for leaving Haruka. He didn't leave her, she left him. She never gave him a chance.

"I heard that your company wasn't quite well since your fell out with Koizumi Honoka. Her father didn't appreciate you breaking her heart and stopped all business with your company. Am I right? Could it be because of Haruka?"

"I don't see how Haruka has anything to do with you."

"It's not surprising that you don't know my relationship with Haruka. After all, what do you know about her life in America?" Himuro taunted. He narrowed his eyes on Akashi and stood straight so he appeared much taller. "I don't know much about your relationship with Haruka either but what I do know is that Taiga is a much better guy for her."

With that, Himuro excused himself while Akashi continued watching Haruka and Kagami's interaction. Akashi knew he hadn't been much of a guy to Haruka, not since middle school anyway. But he didn't see what Himuro saw. Just because Kagami could make Haruka smile now didn't mean that he was a better guy for him.

From what Akashi could see, it didn't take a special guy to make Haruka smile now.

~.~

* * *

~.~

_Of all the places, Akashi did not expect to see Haruka at Kyoto University._

_He was the one who saw her. Haruka never once locked eyes with him so he safely assumed that she didn't know he was at the same university. _

_She was different. The first time Akashi saw her, she was by herself. She was sitting at a small table in the corner at the cafeteria. Akashi happened to be let out of a lecture early that day and went to lunch early. It turned out that Haruka was studying Law and she was always in lunch an hour early than he was which was why they never met._

_The second time he saw her again, she was with the people doing the same degree as her. Akashi never thought he would see the day when Haruka would be making friends, smiling and laughing with a bunch of people. Even when she was going out with Akashi, she barely smiled at everyone. She even had a cup of coffee with her. If he remembered correctly, she couldn't stand the smell of coffee at all._

_After that, Akashi began seeing her everywhere. It turned out that the apartment she lived in was close to where he lived. He would see her almost every morning as they walked to class. Every evening, Akashi would walk a distance behind Haruka and pretended that he was walking her home. They even shopped at the same supermarket._

_Never once though, did they meet face to face. For some reason, Akashi only wanted to watch Haruka from afar. It seemed like her life was much better without him. He even found himself backing away from the aisle in the supermarket and hiding on the other side when he so very nearly ran into Haruka once. Why was he only like this around her?_

_That reminded Akashi of a phrase Hayama said to him once._

_After her father's appearance at the Winter Cup, Haruka rarely showed up anymore. But each day, Akashi would be scanning the crowd for the blonde's face. Everyone around Akashi noticed but no one said a thing. Until one day, Hayama somehow found the courage._

_"It's love, you fool."_

~.~

* * *

~.~

"Congratulations, Daiki."

Aomine shook Akashi's hand, thanking him for coming to the wedding. Chinatsu noticed her new husband talking to Akashi and narrowed her eyes on the red head. She stormed over in her dress and separated their hands, glaring at Akashi. Sometimes Aomine admired Chinatsu's lack of fear for Akashi. "You," she hissed softly.

"Me?" Akashi asked. "I'm only here to congratulate you on your wedding."

"Did you talk to Haruka?" Chinatsu asked. "Because if you put her back into that state again, I'm not going to forgive you. Ever. You see these heels? Yeah, I will shove them so far down your throat th-"

Aomine placed his hand on Chinatsu's mouth, wrapping his free arm around her waist and lifted her up, taking her away from Akashi. The red head could only stare. He would forgive her since it was her wedding but Akashi never liked Chinatsu to begin with.

But then what she said stuck in his mind. Put Haruka back in what state? Her depressed state where she hated everyone? Akashi was sure that he wasn't the only contributing factor. If anything, he was probably only the last piece that catalyst it. A lot of things in Haruka's life added up to get her there.

While waiting outside for his car and still thinking over Chinatsu's words, Akashi finally crossed paths with Haruka again. The door to the hotel behind him opened and the blonde walked out, looking around for her car. Akashi glanced over and at the same time, so did Haruka. They locked eyes and like in the movies, they stood and stared at each other while the wind blew.

"Hi."

Haruka spoke first. Akashi never expected that from her. "Hi."

"How are you?" she asked.

"I'm well. I saw your new music video. Looks like you're doing well too."

"Ah...I suppose," Haruka smiled.

There was a sudden urge in Akashi to just go up to Haruka, grab her around the waist and kiss her senseless. He played the scenario over and over in his head, seeing nothing wrong with it. But as he moved to make that into a reality, the door behind them opened and Kagami emerged, standing next to Haruka.

The other red head naturally rested his hand on Haruka's waist. When he made eye contact with Akashi though, he frowned slightly and pulled Haruka closer to his own body. Akashi automatically narrowed his eyes on Kagami's hand. How dare he touched her like that? But it looked like Haruka was comfortable enough to let him do so.

"Hello there, big corporate CEO," Kagami greeted with spite.

"Hello there, big shot basketball player." Akashi greeted back with just as much spite.

To save them from arguing, Kagami's car arrived and he held the door open for Haruka. Were they a couple only because Kagami now played for Haruka's father's team? Akashi could have been that. He could drop everything and be a basketball player for her. As she was getting in, she suddenly turned around and looked at Akashi.

It looked like she had a million words to say but only a few came out in the end. "It was nice seeing you. Bye," she smiled. Kagami closed the door behind her and went over to the driver's side, getting in. Finally, Akashi was left alone to stare after Kagami's car as they drove off.

_I love you, Haruka_


End file.
